Na le’hakeer et marat Cooper
by Sarah Withers
Summary: Ziva and Gibbs have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they are forced to play husband and wife?
1. Chalom

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** This is my first multi chapter NCIS fic so please bear with me. This has no particular time from but Jenny is still the Director.

Ziva struggled to fit her key into the door of her apartment as his strong hands clamped tightly to her waist and his lips massaged the back of her neck, subconsciously she tilted her head to the side allowing him easier access, gasping slightly as she felt him gently such at her skin.

Finally fitting the key into the lock she pushed the door open, reaching down to grab his hand she pulled him through the door behind her, turning around and kicking the door shut as she felt him pull her hair from the knot it occupied on the top of her head. Smiling she shook her hair out, feeling incredibly satisfied at the look of lust that darkened his eyes.

He stepped towards her again, swiftly pushing her jacket from her shoulders and pulling her to him. his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tight against him as he leaned down, closing the gap between his mouth and hers, kissing her roughly as he moved his hands down to the top of her thighs and easily lifted her.

She wrapped her legs tightly around him and leaned back from the kiss, her hands grasping his shoulders and allowing him easy access to the tops of her breasts that were visible over the deep scoop of her vest top. He planted kisses across her bare skin as the pair of them blindly made their way through her apartment to the bedroom.

He gently placed her on the bed and smiled as she quickly scuttled back into the middle of the bed and smiled up at him as he climbed onto the bed, moving forwards and straddling her legs.

She moaned as she felt his calloused hands slide underneath the dark material of her vest top and brush across her smooth skin. Lifting her body from the bed she allowed him to gently lift the top over her head and smiled at his obvious surprise at the black lace bra that lay beneath.

Lowering his head he kissed her breasts through the lace. She heard a gasp escape from her mouth as his lips closed around her nipple, gently tugging at it through the material before he reached around her and deftly unhooked it. He slid it slowly first from one shoulder and then the other, his lips pressing into the hollow above her collar bone, his tongue gently tracing along the line of her bone.

Sighing happily she slid her hand under his chin and gently pulled him upwards, pressing her lips to his, her tongue sliding against his as she took her turn to run her hands beneath his shirt, her fingers splaying out across his muscled back, her short nails digging into his flesh as she felt his lips travel along her jaw line to the sensitive spot just below her earlobe.

Pulling away slightly she slid his t shirt over his head and allowed her lips to fall to his toned chest. Pushing him back against the bed she slid her leg over his waist and traced the defined outlines of his muscles with her lips before following the slight trail of hair from his belly button to the waistband of his jeans.

She looked up at him, lust now visible in her own eyes as her fingers swiftly undid his belt, pulling it from the loops in one swift movement. Her nimble fingers made light work of his button and fly, smiling as he lifted his hips from the bed, making it easy for her to pull them down, throwing them to the side she leaned forward again, her hands firmly against his chest as she kissed him, allowing him to roll them back over so she was once again beneath him. his hands moved quickly to hold his weight on either side of her body as he kissed her before transferring his weight to his legs as moved down her body, and unzipping her fly, before watching appreciatively as she wriggled out of her pants, leaving herself dressed simply in her matching panties.

She watched him as his eyes slowly took the whole of her in, smiling as his eyes finally met hers. She raised a single finger and beckoned him back towards her, seductively licking her lips as he moved towards her, her eyes closing as his lips met hers once again, her hand snaked up around his neck, sliding into his hair and holding him in place as her tongue battled his for dominance in the kiss. Gasping for breath as they separated she watched through heavily lidded his as he moved back down her body once more, his lips placing gentle, fluttering kisses across the inside of her thighs. She felt the muscles in her stomach muscle flutter as her arousal grew at his movements. Her hips bucked involuntarily as he continued to lavish his attention across her inner thighs, avoiding the area she wanted him most of all. Finally he gave in as a ragged please escaped from her lips, and allowed his lips to brush across the fine black lace. He smirked to himself as a moan rumbled in the back of her throat and swept his tongue across her, pressing slightly deeper but the lace still acting as a barrier between him and her. Her hips bucked involuntarily once again at this increased touch and his nose grazed against her overly sensitive clitoris causing her to jolt upright and scream his name.

~*~

"Gibbs!"

Ziva sat shocked, staring at her hands as they smoothed the duvet covering her legs. She had been having these dreams for weeks now; slowly they had become more explicit in their nature. This however was the first time she had recalled the identity of her lover after she had woken.

This was a fact that concerned her; it had not escaped her attention that her boss was an attractive man. The former marine had maintained his physique during his time at NCIS, and his eyes still startled her every time he looked directly at her. Even after three years of working in such close proximity to him she still couldn't get over the blueness of them, the way they twinkled on the rare occasions he smiled; even his infamous glare had the ability to make her stomach dip in anticipation. Consciously she had pushed this all to the back of her mind. Developing feelings for your boss was inappropriate and inexcusable as far as she was concerned and fortunately she was skilled at compartmentalising. Unfortunately for her it seemed her subconscious disagreed.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her cell rang, rolling onto her front she grabbed it from her nightstand, flipping it open and identifying herself to the caller. She patiently listened as the voice explained what was required of her before responding, "Of course Director. I'll be right in."


	2. Dreams pt 1

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Working alone on his boat in the basement he felt her presence before he saw her, smiling to himself as he felt her arms slide around his waist, her breath hot against the back of her neck as she moved her hands upwards to cover his eyes. Her breath tickled his ear as she whispered, "Guess who…"

He slowly reached up and took her hands in his, bringing them from his eyes and gently kissing them both before releasing them and slowly turning to face her, "It could only ever have been you…"

She pouted and he smiled, gently kissing her before continuing, "Ziva no one but you avoids the third step, you do because you know it creaks and you don't want it to announce your presence. If it was Tony, Abby or even Jen coming down those steps I'd have heard them easily." He smirked slightly as her pout began to fade slightly and he went on determined to prove just how well he knew her, "secondly you were just finishing up in the gym when I left NCIS two hours ago, that gives you enough time to go home and have one of your relaxing bubble baths, the ones you take to remind yourself of your feminine side; the ones that leave you smelling of French Vanilla and Blackberry Honey." He gently kissed her hair, smiling at her obvious surprise at his depth of knowledge. "I was a sniper Ziva, like you we don't tend to do so well unless we're aware of our surroundings. I might occasionally need glasses but the rest of my senses are still sharp. Do you think I would have let anybody else get that close to me?"

She rolled her eyes in defeat, "I suppose not." She wrapped her arms around him, sliding her hands beneath his sweatshirt and resting her head against his chest, closing her eyes to the steady rise and fall of his breathing.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her, resting his head on hers, "I wasn't expecting you tonight…"

She opened his eyes at his unexpected statement and pulled back slightly, looking up at him, "I missed you…" She looked down to the floor, taking a sudden interest at the curls of wood at her feet, apparently ashamed at her admission.

He slid his finger to just below her chin, gently teasing her face upwards until her eyes met his again, "I'm glad you came. I missed you too…"

He watched as the corner of her mouth twitched into a smile.

"I thought you might be hungry, you tend to forget to eat when you start working on your boat…" She smirked as she heard his stomach rumble, "I brought take out…" he smiled at her and she took the opportunity to show him that he was not the only one with intimate knowledge of the other, "Thai, from the place on Wisconsin… Chicken Satay, Crispy Wontons, Larb Kai and extra Num Tok for you…"

He smiled at her obvious smugness, "Gang Dang too?"

She nodded in response, "And maybe if you're really good I'll let you have a bite of my Gang Kai… "

He laughed scooping her into his arms and kissing her neck, "How good?"

She slid her arms around his neck, snuggling into him, "we'll see"

Smirking he carried her from the basement, the third step creaking loudly, as if to prove a point, as he stepped on it. Walking into the living room he found the various cartons already laid out on the coffee table. He smiled as he gently placed her on the couch. "Smells good…"

She laughed, "Well of course it does Jethro, it is from the best Thai place in town…" she leaned forward grabbing a carton as he sank to the couch beside her. "I bet it tastes good too…" She opened the carton and leaned back so she was resting against his arm; she gently kissed him before placing a dumpling in his mouth.

He nodded appreciatively as he chewed, not attempting to speak until he had swallowed, "It's not bad… It doesn't taste as good as you though…"

Her laugh filled the room as she allowed herself to be pulled onto his lap. His lips swiftly found hers and he gently kissed her. His tongue softly pressing against her lower lip before sliding inside her mouth and lightly caressing her own. She kissed him back quite contentedly, only pulling away as she felt his hands begin to travel beneath her top.

"I don't know about you but I'm actually hungry…" smugly she removed herself from his lap, the look in her eyes daring him to disagree as she reached for the food, but he simply smiled and reached for his own carton.

Half an hour later all that remained were the empty cartons, smiling Ziva rose and gathered them up before heading into the kitchen to dispose of them. As she turned to head back into the living room she found her way blocked, "You just can't keep away can you?"

He laughed; "Well when a beautiful woman shows up unexpectedly in my house and brings food I think it's only polite that I show a little gratitude…" he took her hand and led her upstairs to his bedroom.

Once in the bedroom she quite happily took control pulling him down onto the bed with her and wrapping her thigh tightly around his waist as she kissed him. Eventually relinquishing control she allowed him to slowly undress her before they made love. He was slow and tender, not the deeply lustful sex at the start of their relationship but passionate none the less.

She lay next to him, resting her head on his chest, being comforted by its rise and fall as he regained his breath. After a few minutes he heard her gentle snores and smiled, very carefully moving her sleeping body beneath the sheets. The last thing he felt before he fell asleep was her curling into him, her hair falling against his shoulder as she nuzzled into his neck.

~*~

He blinked as the buzz cut into his slumber and groaned before looking blearily at the woman lying curled against his body, he reached over her hitting the snooze button allowing himself a precious few extra minutes with her.

He cursed as the noise blared into the room again, rolling over with his eyes still shut he hit the alarm clock, cursing as the noise didn't stop. Sitting up and looking sleepily around his empty room he realised it wasn't his alarm clock that had been making the noise at all, it had been his cell.

Flipping it open he glanced at the number and groaned, calling the message service he heard Jen's voice informing him he was needed in the office as soon as possible.

He stood and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower before stripping out of the T shirt and boxers he had worn to bed and stepping under the spray. His usual efficiency was slightly hampered as his mind drifted back to his dream. He had dreamt about Ziva before, and the slightly erotic nature of last night's dream did not bother him. He accepted the fact that he found her attractive and that the dreams were his subconscious mind's way of dealing with an attraction he was not prepared to act on. He had had these sorts of dreams about other women in his life before and he expected he would continue to have such dreams in the future. After all he was only a man. What concerned him was the fact that in this dream they were clearly in some sort of long term relationship. What concerned him more was the fact that he had enjoyed it so much.

He was brought back to the present as the water began to run cold. He quickly finished showering before turning the water off and towelling himself dry. Pushing all the thoughts to the back of his head he dressed and headed for the Navy Yard.


	3. An Officer & A Gentleman

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Gibbs stepped out of the elevator 45 minutes later cradling his cup of coffee as he made his way around the bull pen and up the stairs towards the director's office. He entered the outer office, briefly acknowledging Cynthia's presence before striding confidently into the main office. Coming to a stop in front of the desk he looked to the red headed woman sitting behind it. "You called Jen…"

"I did _Agent _Gibbs" She emphasized the use of the word agent as she rose from her chair attempting to restore the level of authority her position afforded her. "I have a special assignment for your team. It has been brought to the attention of the Sec-Nav and therefore my attention that over the course of the past year small amounts of money have gone missing."

Gibbs interrupted her, "Gone missing?"

She nodded, "Been left unaccounted for in the final accounts of a number of different projects, supplies supposedly brought but not showing up on any inventory. The amounts individually were small enough to go unnoticed at first but we believe the amounts total roughly $15 million. There are several more senior members of staff who could potentially be responsible for the fraud but up until now we've been unable to find evidence to firmly link any of them to the crime. Fortunately for us we have an agent prepared to go undercover."

Gibbs looked at her, "Who?"

She looked straight back at him, "You… Your profile is being prepared as we speak. You will be Captain James Cooper; you have spent the past four years at Norfolk Naval Station before that you had brief deployments both at Pearl Harbour and here at the naval yard.

Recently a house came on the market in a gated community just outside Bethesda where several of the suspects live. It is being prepared for you currently, we expect you to involve yourself with the community and gain their trust. We expect this to be a slow process, it could take several months." She held up a hand as he opened his mouth to speak. "The Sec-Nav considers this to be of the highest priority Jethro. This is money that should be spent supporting the men currently on deployment and he wants the situation resolved. There is no room for debate. You will be joined at the house by your wife Suri, a lawyer specialising in international law, she worked at the UN and is now transferring to the State Department. You met when she was an intern brought in to assist at a presentation."

"Oh come on Jen! You don't expect me to play happy families with some irritating lawyer from state, you know the rule!"

She rolled her eyes "Never, ever involve a lawyer? There is no lawyer from State Agent Gibbs. It is a cover."

"So who do I have to put up with then?"

Jen smiled, "Allow me to introduce Mrs Suri Cooper…" Gibbs followed her eyes to the back of the room and watched as Ziva silently unfolded herself from the position she had settled in and rose from the couch in the corner.

She walked towards the pair of them, a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, "Hello James…"

"Ziva…" his mind instantly raced back to his dream and he realised he rapidly needed to find a way out of this assignment. "Director surely Agent DiNozzo would be more appropriate for the assignment. It would present a more believable cover."

Jen shook her head, "No these orders come directly from the Sec-Nav; there are to be no adjustments."

Ziva stopped next to him, "Then it is fortunate for you I prefer my men older…"

Gibbs managed to prevent his shock revealing itself outwardly as his mind began to race, the rational part of it was telling him it was a simple off the cuff comment in relation to the case and their covers, the irrational part was telling him that he must have done something to give himself away, she was after all a skilled tracker, that he must have looked at her for just that little bit too long without realising, that some how she knew he dreamed about her and now she was out to have some fun at his expense.

He was brought back into the room as he heard the door open, turning he saw Cynthia enter with two garment bags, one she passed to him, the other to Ziva before exiting the room once more.

Jen looked to them both, "Appropriate attire for the two of you… Wardrobes have been provided for you at the house. Once you've changed your car will be waiting for you…"

The pair of them nodded before leaving the office and heading to the shower area to change. He watched as Ziva disappeared into a side room before unzipping his garment bag and rolling his eyes at the dress whites Jen had provided for him. He swiftly changed, checked his appearance in the mirror and was adjusting his hat when he heard footsteps approaching on the tiles. He turned to find Ziva rounding the partition into the room and couldn't help but been blown away by her appearance as he took her in. Her usual footwear had been replaced by 4 inch stiletto courts; it was these that had given away her arrival. Instead of her usual cargo pants her legs were bare until just below the knee where the hem of a very well fitted pencil skirt fell, following the line of her body upwards he found a wide belt emphasising her already tiny waist and marking the contrast between the black of the skirt and the white of the crisp fitted shirt she wore. Her hair was loosely pinned on top of her head and a few strands had escaped and now framed her face.

"You look beautiful Ziva…"

She smiled, "And you look very dashing… Very… What's that film?" She clicked her fingers as she tried to remember the title, "You know the one where he finds his girlfriend at the factory and carries her out…. He puts his hat on her head!"

He laughed, "An Officer and a Gentleman?"

She beamed and pointed at him, "Yes! You look just like that!"

He smiled, "I wouldn't have considered that your sort of film Ziva…"

"Why because it is a hen, no chick! A chick flick?" She stepped towards him, "I maybe able to kill you in ten different ways right now with my bare hands and not leave a mark but I am still a woman… and occasionally every woman wishes to be swept off her feet by someone like that"

"Like that… You mean a naval officer?"

"Or perhaps a marine…" She countered and Gibbs was sure he heard a hint of flirtation in her voice.

"Would a former marine count?"

She stepped closer to him again and when she spoke there was no denying the flirtatious edge that laced her voice, "A wise man once told me there was no such thing as a former marine"

"Well I'm sure he'll be pleased to know you remembered…" Ziva was clearly playing with him, but Leroy Jethro Gibbs was never one to back down from a challenge and swiftly decided that two could play at her game, "For the record it was her that took the hat…"

She looked at him puzzled, "what?"

"An Officer and a Gentleman, he picked her up but it was her that took the hat and put it on her head not him.." with that he suddenly reached down placing one hand behind her knees and scooping her into his arms, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck to steady herself at the sudden motion, leaving her face just inches from his. The pair of them looking deeply into one another's eyes, both searching for something hidden within, both silently daring the other to be the one to break the connection.

Ziva could feel herself being drawn in by his eyes, her lips slowly moving closer to his, and were only centimetres from them when she came to her senses and suddenly pulled away, taking the hat from his head and placing it firmly on her own before smiling at him.

Moments later the pair of them heard a door start to open, instantly he removed his arm from beneath her legs, her excellent reflexes ensuring she had no difficultly landing on her feet, even in four inch heels. Seconds later Gibbs felt his hat being pressed back into his hands just as Cynthia appeared round the partition, "If you're both ready the director wishes to see you again before you leave.."

The pair of them nodded briefly in response and satisfied Cynthia left the room. Ziva took a step towards the door as if to follow her before pausing and turning back to Gibbs, leaning into him she whispered into his ear, "For _your_ record I think you are far more attractive than Richard Gere…"

Turning on her heel she strode out of the room leaving him standing speechless in her wake. He wasn't sure what sort of game he had just initiated but he was fairly certain he was playing with fire and about to get burnt.

* * *

**A/N:** A rough translation of the title from Hebrew to English is Allow me to introduce Mrs Cooper. In theory at least


	4. Play Fighting

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** My apologies for the delay in parts, real life sort of got in the way, a couple of people from work were on holiday so I've spent much of the past couple of weeks filling in. I have however now got a couple of days off so I intend to catch up with what I intended to write. On the plus side there are now several "DVD extras" written. I hope you enjoy this part.

* * *

Their first week at the house passed fairly quickly and without major incident as they adjusted to their new routines, their new jobs and living together.

The first evening had been spent under siege from various neighbours all eager to meet the new couple. Their time had been spent graciously accepting welcome baskets and hampers. Ziva had easily stepped into the role of wife and hostess, flitting happily from her husband's side to the kitchen and back again; her hand snaking around his waist and rubbing his back, her head resting against his shoulder as he fielded questions on his past deployments and what he would be doing at the Pentagon.

That night she had followed him to the master suite, noting with surprise at just how well stocked her closet was; she had walked past the rows of business suits and evening gowns to a wall of shelves and drawers, searching for her nightwear. However instead of the cargo pants and vest tops she usually wore to bed she found silk negligees and pretty camisoles and matching hot pants. She slipped her clothes from her body and reached for a black silk camisole, sliding it over her head before stepping into the matching hot pants.

Heading back into the bedroom she found Gibbs just returning from the bathroom dressed in boxers and a naval academy T shirt. She smiled slightly nervously at him as she slid into bed and he smiled nervously back at her, "Don't worry I don't snore…"

She laughed and slid back against the pillow. Both of them quickly falling asleep. Both of them too concerned with how similar to their dreams their current situation was to notice the other was feeling exactly the same.

Their mornings consisted of showering and breakfast before checking the mail for any correspondence from the team before heading for work.

Gibbs would get into his sensible sedan and make the journey into The Pentagon where he would spend the day. The vast majority of his time was spent with McGee in his ear talking him through several more complicated computer procedures in an attempt to find a money trail that could be traced back to a single person.

The rest of his time was spent in the break room drinking coffee a getting to know his new colleagues, speaking about his time in the Navy and his beautiful wife.

Ziva would separately make the journey to the Truman Building. Her days at work were split; part of her day she would spend working on the case, searching through the suspects financial records, looking for any unexplained income, anything that she considered remotely suspicious would be noted and sent back to the Navy Yard to be followed up. The rest of her time was spent helping the State Department with translating various documents and messages; a benefit of being fluent in seven different languages was that her skills were often in demand.

And so it continued through out the week until the Friday night when Ziva arrived back at the house to find Gibbs already home and running in the gym. She quickly changed before heading in to join him, stepping onto the cross trainer and beginning her own work out.

Fifteen minutes later Gibbs stepped down from the treadmill and wiped the sweat from his face before sitting on the mat to stretch.

Ziva stepped from the cross trainer to join him, sitting and spreading her legs into a wide "V" she bent to the side, her hands reaching for her foot and her head resting on her knee, from this position she spoke, "I bet you couldn't pin me."

He looked across at her from his own position on the mat, "What?"

She rose from her pose, smiling over at him before reaching for her other foot and repeating herself, the playfulness clear in her voice, "I bet you couldn't pin me, to the mat, if we were to fight…"

He stood, offering her his hand as she looked up at him and pulling her to her feet. "Okay, winner is the first person to pin the other for five seconds…"

She nodded in understanding and kicked her shoes off, watching as he did the same she quickly dropped into her fighting stance. She easily blocked all of his attempts to get close to her before suddenly sweeping her leg around and wiping his feet from under him, landing him on his back with a thud. However by the time she dropped to pin him he had rolled away and onto his feet ready to spring at her. He knocked her sideways onto her back but she used his own momentum to roll the pair of them over, and leaving herself above him, her hands pressed to his chest quite convinced of victory when he pushed her away from him.

They continued their battle each being quite convinced they had won before the other managed to escape their grasp at the last second. Finally Gibbs found himself above her, his legs straddling her waist, his hands pinning hers above her head. She found herself staring up into his eyes as he took in all of her as she laid pinned beneath him, the way her t shirt stuck to her body slick with sweat, and the way the damp curl that had escaped from her pony tail stuck to her forehead. Slowly he leaned down towards her and she felt her breath catch in her throat as his lips brushed across her cheek before he whispered in her ear, "I think this means I win…"

He rolled off her, stretching as he stood before grabbing his towel, "I'm going to change, I believe we're due at a barbeque soon…"

She propped herself up on her elbows and nodded, watching as he left the room to shower. Flopping back onto her back she realised the reason her heart was pounding in her chest had absolutely nothing to do with the exercise and everything to do with the man.


	5. Dreams pt 2

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Ziva showered and dressed, pulling on jeans and a vest top, and headed down to the lounge where Gibbs was waiting. She paused at the door and willed her heart rate to stay slow as she approached him. She stepped into the room and smiled, "Ready to go James?"

He nodded, rose from the couch and crossed to her; she couldn't help but notice the shirt he was wearing was slightly tighter than the ones he usually wore through choice and his still well defined body was obvious through the material. She bit her lip and smiled, "Let's go then…"

He followed her through the house, locking the front door behind her and linking his fingers through hers as they wandered up the street towards their neighbours.

She glanced up at him and he smiled at her, "Have to make it believable sweetheart, and believe it or not I'm actually a very tactile person..."

She nodded and moved closer to him, sliding her arm around his waist; determined not to be outdone by him, hoping that playing up to the part completely would help her to overcome her feelings and get over what she considered to be a minor crush.

She smiled as his arm travelled around her shoulder as they made their way up the driveway and she reached out to ring the doorbell. She smiled broadly at the redhead that opened the door, "Hello Sally…"

The woman smiled, "Suri, James, come through…"

They followed her through the house, Ziva commenting on the décor as she thought fit until they reached the kitchen, following her through the back door and out onto the deck.

They smiled at the crowd already gathered in the garden and began to mingle, it wasn't long before they were all sitting down to eat, the conversation flowed easily between the couples and the time passed quickly. Once they had finished they separated into groups. Gibbs was taken to one side by the men to discuss his history, they were all keen to learn more about his previous deployments, sharing stories about the ships they had served on, whilst Ziva was left picking at salad as the other woman chatted about the various projects they were undertaking at home.

After 30 minutes or so Ziva excused herself and moved to help herself to a drink, walking behind the men she heard one of them ask "So James how did you pull one like that?"

She cleared her throat and slid her arms around his waist, peering around his side at the others, "Who said it was him that did the pulling?"

She moved to stand in front of Gibbs who slid his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, "I'm just a lucky man..."

She smiled as he kissed her neck and slid her hands over his, "Yes you are, and don't you forget it…"

The men all laughed and she smiled, "You don't all want to hear about that though, it's a terribly boring story."

At that moment Sally came over to check everyone's drinks were full. Ziva gracefully accepted a top up, taking a sip as Sally spoke, "I'm sure we'd all love to know how you met, after all tonight is all about getting to know each other better…"

Ziva nodded, "Okay…"

The group moved other to join the rest of the women. Gibbs settled into a chair on one side of the patio, stretching his legs out in front of him. Ziva moved onto his lap, resting against his chest she began the tale. "At law school I specialised in international law. After I graduated I took a job as an intern with the UN. One of my first tasks was to assist a senior layer with a presentation. We were to go to the Navy Yard to ensure the Rules of Engagement were clear within the new style of warfare allied forces had been forced to take up in the Middle East. James was sitting at the back of the room bored out of his skull; he intrigued me so I stopped him on his way out and offered to give him a private briefing if he felt that would help keep his attention."

"I took her out for dinner and it went from there… The next Valentine's day I flew her down to the Keys and we went out on my boat." He smiled down at her, "And that's when I proposed, luckily she decided to say yes."

She gently kissed him, "We had a quiet wedding here in Washington that May, with pictures in the Rose Garden at the arboretum. It was beautiful…"

Holly, one of the other wives smiled, "I saw a picture in your hallway, it looked very romantic…"

Ziva snuggled against Gibbs, "It was…"

Sally looked over at the pair of them, "You don't have children?"

Gibbs replied, "No…"

Ziva interrupted him, "Not yet, it is something we plan to work on now I have him back with me." She glanced up at the puzzled looks around her and continued. "The last few years whilst James was based at Norfolk I was still working for the UN in New York, I flew down for weekends and holidays but we spent the week apart." She gently stroked his chest, "That's why I took the job at the Department of State when he found out he was being transferred to the Pentagon, so we could start a family. I know James will be an amazing father, he's fair, has a wonderful sense of humour and justice and he's incredibly loving." She gazed up into his eyes, "He's everything I ever dreamt the father of my child would be…"

Gibbs looked back down at her, thoughts running through his head as he considered what she had said, and wondered exactly what the meaning behind her words were. He squeezed her tightly, "I know Suri will make a wonderful mother."

Sally smiled at the pair of them, "That's incredibly sweet…" She hid a yawn behind her hand, "I'm sorry, I didn't realise how late it was getting…"

Ziva nodded and rose from her position on Gibbs's knee. "We should really head home, thank you for your hospitality, tonight has been lovely."

Sally smiled and led them back through the house, handing Gibbs his jacket and standing at the front door to let them out. "I take it we'll see you at the charity ball tomorrow night? Over at the country club… It's for such a good cause…"

Ziva looked up at Gibbs, "We don't have tickets…"

"I'll have them leave a pair at the door for you… It's a black tie event, food, dancing you know what it's like."

Gibbs nodded, "Of course we'll be there." With that he smiled and placed his jacket around Ziva before taking her hand and walking back to the house.

The pair of them quickly changed and got into bed, both quickly falling asleep after their busy week.

The pair of them slept peacefully for most of the night, it wasn't until dawn that his dream began.

* * *

_Gibbs walked into the bullpen and smiled at Ziva as he passed her desk, "Ziva…"_

_She smiled as he sat down at his desk, "Ziva, that's all I get?"_

_He looked over at her puzzled and she continued, "You know after all the grief I got from Tony when I came into work and he found out I'd married you over the weekend the least I could get in return was a little show of affection, especially in an empty room…"_

_She rose from her chair and placed her hand on her swollen abdomen, he smiled and quickly crossed to her gently kissing her, "I'm sorry sweetheart. My head's just in the case..."_

_She nodded, "I know, and in the periods your child hasn't been using my bladder as a soccer ball I did what you asked." She reached for her desk and handed him a file, "The lieutenant Carter case file and a list of similarities between the two cases. I think you are right the cases are related. I wish I was out in the field with you… desk work is incredibly dull."_

_He kissed her forehead, "I know, but you know agency regulations" he placed her hand on her bump and smiled as she moved his hand to where the baby was kicking. Then the elevator pinged as they separated as Tony entered the room._

* * *

Gibbs suddenly awoke; blinking at the clock he saw it was six AM. Knowing he needed to clear his head he flung back the sheets and swung his legs out, despite everything he couldn't help but smile as Ziva stirred, mumbling incoherently, "Go back to sleep, I'm just putting coffee on…"

She grumbled in response and rolled over clutching his pillow and falling back to sleep.

Gibbs quietly exited the room, heading down to the kitchen where he opened a fresh bag of beans, he quickly ground them and put them in the filter, turning the machine on he placed his cup under the filter and waited for it to fill before replacing it with a pot and heading out to the deck. Sitting on the swing he nursed his cup and tried to figure out what the hell to do now he was dreaming about Ziva carrying his child.


	6. Considerations and Realisations

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** I originally had another chapter written and ready as the next part but following a comment on another site I felt that this was an avenue I wanted to explore a little more, it was originally only ever meant to be a few lines or so at the beginning of the original chapter but it sort of grew and I felt in the end it worked best if I split the two. Don't worry though the original chapter will be posted later today (It's currently 2AM my time) I hope you don't mind this brief interlude too much.  
**A/N 2:** Originally I intended to include much more of the case in later chapters but from the reviews I get the impression that people aren't too fussed about that so here's my question should I continue with my original plan to bring the case back into focus or should I just keep my focus on the relationship brewing between Gibbs and Ziva?

* * *

Gibbs sat on the swing, coffee mug clutched between his hands, occasionally taking sips of the bitter liquid as he tried to get his head around everything. The dream he had had earlier that morning concerned him greatly. It had been a long time since he had even thought about the possibility of becoming a father again. Truthfully he had barely even considered it since the loss of his first wife and daughter; it was a topic that had been strictly off limits during his three further marriages. Whilst there was no doubt in his mind that the conversation at the barbecue the night before had been a major influencing factor, he was also fairly convinced that had his partner been anyone other than Ziva the dream would not have taken place. The truth was that Ziva David was stirring up feelings within him that he had not felt before, or since his Shannon.

It was quite clear that there was no direct comparison between Shannon and Ziva. One was an all American red head from Pennsylvania and the other was a rather exotic looking Mossad trained assassin from Israel. Yet the way he had begun to feel about Ziva far out shadowed the way he had felt about his subsequent three wives. In fact this time he had spent in close proximity to her had developed them to the point he had begun to realise they had started to rival his feelings for Shannon.

This was a fact that concerned him on a number of levels: firstly he felt as though he was betraying Shannon's memory, by even considering Ziva could fill the hole that she had left; secondly he was her boss and he had created rule number twelve for a very good reason; thirdly they were in the middle of an undercover operation and he was fully aware Jenny would murder, or at least severely injure him, if he allowed a personal relationship to jeopardise the case and fourthly Ziva was very nearly young enough to be his daughter and despite her comments over the past few days he had no real reason to believe she'd ever want to be in any sort of real relationship with a man like him. He drained his coffee and lent back to think some more as he watched the sun rise.

Around an hour later Ziva stirred from her deep slumber. Realising there was no one in the bed with her she glanced around the room momentarily before the faint aroma of coffee gave away the missing occupants whereabouts. She crossed to the closet and pulled her dressing gown from a hanger. She slipped it over her shoulders, wrapping it around her she padded down the stairs, tying the belt as she went.

She walked through to the kitchen and spotted the now full pot of coffee. She reached down a mug from the cupboard and poured herself a cup. Wrapping her hands around the cup she felt the warmth flow through her, lifting the cup towards her face she inhaled, enjoying the rich aroma, before she took a sip. Glancing around the kitchen she spotted the backdoor was open and beyond that she could see Gibbs looking deep in thought on the swing.

She picked up the coffee pot and walked outside, shivering slightly as the coolness of the early morning touched her skin through the thin silk of her robe and negligee. She quietly crossed the deck moving to stand in front of Gibbs and he looked up as her shadow crossed into his line of vision. She smiled before offering the pot in his direction, "More coffee?"

He nodded, murmuring his thanks as she refilled his mug. She placed the pot on the floor before joining him on the swing, tucking one leg under herself as she sat looking out over the garden. "It's beautiful isn't it…?"

He looked up at her, surprising crossing his face as though he had forgotten she was there, "Hmm?"

"It's beautiful out here… With the forest..."

"Oh… Yes, yes it is…" He nodded and went back to gazing into the distance.

She turned to look at him properly, tucking her other leg under her as she did so, "Are you okay? You seem a little…" She paused momentarily, trying to decide on the best word to use, "distracted…"

He glanced up at her and saw concern clear in her eyes, "I'm fine, it's just this whole assignment… It's just brought back a few memories…"

She smiled as him sadly, and reached for his hand squeezing it comfortingly, "You still miss them terribly don't you… Shannon and Kelly…"

He nodded, "Very much…"

"And you've been married three times since?"

He nodded in response and she continued, "And each of them, these wives, was a redhead yes?"

Once again he simply nodded in response and she continued on, "Did you actually love them? Or did you just hope that because they vaguely resembled Shannon physically they would be able to fill the gap she left in you life?"

For a long while he simple stared down at his coffee mug and she began to worry that during his brief period of openness she had pushed him too far. Finally he looked up, "At the time I thought I was in love with them, but yes I think I was just looking for another Shannon…" He laughed bitterly looking back to the ground, "It's taken me over ten years and three divorces to realise what you've just concluded in ten minutes…"

She squeezed his hand again, waiting for him to look at her before speaking, "I think Shannon would want you to be happy. I think she would not want you to be so stuck living in the past that you miss what is waiting right in front of you in the present…" with that she gently kissed him on the cheek and gracefully rose from the swing, "I will leave you with your thoughts…"

With that she walked back into the house, leaving him watching after her.


	7. Ballgowns and Dancing

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** This was the original sixth chapter plus a little bit more I added onto the beginning... Hope you enjoy and thank you for all the lovely comments

* * *

Ziva had left him alone to think for the majority of the day, only returning to the deck to silently place a sandwich on the swing next to him and replace the empty coffee pot with a full one. He spent a long time simply drinking coffee and watching the garden as he considered her words. During her life Shannon had undoubtedly made him happy, something he hadn't truly been since he had lost her and Kelly. Deep down he knew that Ziva was right Shannon and Kelly would never have wanted him to spend the rest of his life unhappy. Obviously his three previous marriages hadn't managed to provide that, and he had now come to realise that no one could live up to his memories of Shannon and it had been wrong to expect them to, maybe his future happiness actually rested with someone who was the complete opposite of her; someone that, has Ziva had pointed out, had been right in front of him for the past couple of years. He was however still a little unsure as to whether Ziva had intended to imply what he had inferred from her words and so he was reluctant to make the first move in case he was wrong.

Noting the sun was beginning to dip in the sky he rose from the swing and stretched, his muscles stiff from remaining in one position for so long. He walked inside, placing his cup and plate in the sink and returning the coffee pot to its place on the side. Crossing the hallway he smiled as he saw Ziva relaxed on the sofa watching a movie. He paused enjoying seeing her so at ease and he smiled as she turned and saw him, a warm smile crossing her features at the sight of him. He walked over to her, leaning over the back f the sofa and gently kissing the top of her head. "I never got a chance to thank you before for what you said… It helped a lot…"

She smiled, "Then you are most welcome," She reached up and gently stroked his cheek, "I am pleased to have helped you…"

He caught her hand in his and gently kissed it, "I'm going up to have a shower and get ready for the ball… Then it's all yours…"

She smiled, watching him as he left the room and climbed upstairs before turning back to her film.

An hour later Gibbs was already dressed in his tuxedo and waiting for Ziva in the living room. He heard her on the stairs and turned to see her standing in the doorway. For the second time that week he felt his stomach dip, once again the sight of Ziva in a dress had taken his breath away. This dress was red silk; it clung to her curves and was slit to the top of her thigh, allowing for a tempting glimpse of her toned leg as she walked.

He rose from his seat, crossing over to her and kissing her cheek, "You look beautiful Ziva…"

She smiled, "Thank you. Is the car waiting? Jenny said she would send a driver for us when I called her earlier…"

He nodded and picked up her shawl from the side, draping it around her shoulders. She took his hand and led him out to the waiting car.

Twenty minutes later they were pulling up outside the main entrance to the country club, both of them stepped out of the car and Gibbs walked around to her, she slid her arm through his and crossed with him to the foyer. She stopped just short of him as he gave the doorman their names, watching as he wrote the cheque to pay for their tickets. Rejoining him they walked through to the dining room, smiling as they were greeted by several of their neighbours and joined them at their table. Sitting down Ziva rested her hand on Gibbs's thigh, smiling as she joined in the pleasant small talk.

Sipping on her champagne as they ate she relaxed more into her role, beginning to feel more at ease as the pair of them laughed at their companions' anecdotes.

Finishing dinner the action moved through to the ballroom, Ziva took a seat at the edge of the room as the couples began to take to the floor dancing. Gibbs stood at her side watching all the couples dancing before offering her his hand, "Care to dance?"

She looked up at him, "Oh I'm not that good a dancer, I mean I don't get the opportunity very often…"

He smiled taking her hand and gently pulling her from the chair and into his arms, "It's easy, just follow my lead…"

She nodded and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor, she slid her hand onto his shoulder and smiled as she felt his moved to her waist; looking up into his eyes she allowed him to lead her around the floor. She was pleasantly surprised at his grace and ease on the dance floor as he twirled her around the room. The time past quickly and before they knew it the music was coming to an end and they were being ushered back into the dining room. Ziva glanced up at him, "An auction?"

He nodded leading her to a seat, "They often have them at charity events like these…"

They sat quietly through the auction as skiing holidays and Caribbean cruises appeared as lots. Signed sports memorabilia came and went and still Gibbs quietly sat observing those around him, when a Valentines experience was offered as the final lot Ziva sat back and watched as wives clearly encouraged their husbands to bid. Just as she thought it had been won she saw Gibbs raise his hand to bid; she watched silently as Gibbs slowly outbid the other men. She smiled at him in confusion as he rose from his seat and walked to the front, writing a cheque and taking the details of their evening before taking two glasses of champagne from a passing waitress.

He passed a glass to Ziva as he reached her and she sipped at it as she casually lead him over to a quiet corner of the room, she leaned into him and whispered into his ear, "I don't think the director is going to approve that on the expenses account…"

He laughed and leant down to whisper in her ear, "I know that, this one is coming out of my pay cheque…"

She looked at him even more confused than before, "Why?"

"Well if you're going to be stuck spending valentines day on assignment with me I may as well make it worth your while…"

She smiled and finished her champagne, placing her empty glass on the table she turned back to him and took his hand, "Shall we dance?"

They spent the rest of the evening dancing and sipping on champagne, speaking with their neighbours and not realising quite how much time had passed or how much alcohol they had consumed.

Ziva was standing in his arms giggling as he whispered tales in her ear when the music slowed, she smiled at him and slid her arms around his neck, moving closer to him as his arms travelled around his waist. They slowly moved together to the beat of the music and she gazed up into his eyes. Feeling herself being drawn to him she slid her hand into his hair and gently urged his face down towards hers. She lightly pressed her lips to his and felt relief as he responded, beginning to kiss her back, his arms pressed her even tighter to him, as her tongue began to explore his mouth. Slowly they pulled apart, noting that the music had finished and people were starting to leave.

They followed the crowd outside and joined the queue waiting for cars to arrive; as Ziva shivered he slid his jacket from his shoulders and placed it around hers. They both slid into the back seat of the car as it arrived and he slid his arm around her to keep her warm. He smiled as she dozed off against him.

As they arrived back at the house Gibbs thanked the driver and slid out of the car, carefully lifting Ziva from the back seat he carried her up the driveway. Carefully letting them into the house and carrying her upstairs he gently placed her on the bed, lightly pressing a kiss to her temple it was only then he woke her up, gently rubbing her shoulder and telling her they were home.

She smiled and rose from the bed, heading first to the closet and then to the bathroom. By the time she returned Gibbs was already changed and in bed. She slid in beside him, quickly falling asleep once more. Gibbs watched her as she slept, mentally chastising himself for kissing her at the ball and watching her now but finding himself unable to stop.

She rolled towards him in her sleep, her arm flopped across his midriff and her head rested against his chest. He slid his arm around her waist and drifted off to sleep as she snuggled closer to him.


	8. Admissions

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Thank you for all the lovely comments, I hope you enjoy this, don't worry it's not from the end, far from it, there are plenty of twists and turns yet to come.

* * *

That night Ziva dreamt of her partner once more; this time her dreams were more detailed and intimate than ever before. She dreamt of days alone spent walking in the park, of lazy Sundays spent reading newspapers and eating brunch and long nights spent together working on the boat before bed.

She awoke early the next morning to the warmth of his body and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. She found herself snuggling in closer to him, enjoying the intimacy and the feel of his hand on her skin; this was something that surprised her and as she laid there admitted to herself that all her efforts to throw herself into the assignment in an attempt to rid herself of her feelings for him had failed. His qualities she had once admired she now loved and everyday she had spent with him had revealed a new side of his personality, an intimate playful side of him that was rarely, if ever seen at work and despite all the logic in her head telling her it was a bad idea she couldn't help but want to see more of it.

Suddenly sensing he was awake she looked up and found his startling blue eyes on her, she felt a blush rising to her cheeks, embarrassed to have been curled so tightly into him. She gently pushed herself away from him, her hands lingering for a little too long on his chest as she did so.

She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling as she composed herself before turning her head towards him and saw his blue eyes sparkling with amusement as he looked back at her. "I apologise, that was not appropriate, it should not have happened…"

He looked back at her, "Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness…"

She smiled back at him briefly and nodded before returning her attention to the ceiling. The pair of them lay together in silence for a while before he quietly said her name. She looked towards him and found the sparkle had left his eyes and a serious look had replaced it. Having captured her attention he continued, "I want to ask you something, but I don't know if I should…"

She rolled over onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, her hair fell over her eye as she gave him her full attention. "Jethro," she began using his given name for the first time since his return to NCIS, "you and I are both professionals… You know nothing you ask me personally will affect our handling of this case."

He nodded but still took a moment to think, "Yesterday you said that I should be careful not miss what was waiting right in front of me in the present because I was stuck living in the past." Ziva nodded and he continued, "How close to me would you say they were waiting?"

Ziva paused before replying, knowing that no matter what she had promised him earlier her answer would change everything, "Right now…" her logic battled with her emotions as she tried to decide how to answer him. Her Mossad training was telling her it was essential that she separate her personal and work lives. That emotions should be pushed to the back of her mind and locked out of the way, that nothing, absolutely nothing, especially something as trivial as feelings should be allowed to potentially jeopardise a mission. On the other hand things has changed since she had joined NCIS, _she_ had changed in the years she had been living in Washington and she found herself torn between her duty to the agency and her desire to have someone important in her life, to have him in her life. In the end despite her better judgement her emotions won out, "Right now, I would say no more than two feet away…"

She looked at him nervously as she waited for her reaction; she was thoroughly concerned she had read the situation entirely wrong and that that hadn't been the answer he had been looking for at all. She began to second guess herself, beginning to wonder if he had hoped she had meant Jenny, after all they had a history and she was his type, a mould Ziva knew she didn't fit with her long dark hair. But then her mind raced back to the barbecue and she realised that all her attention had been focused on her, that not even once had he glanced across at Sally despite the fact she fulfilled every aspect of his type.

Her doubts were soon quashed though as she felt his lips gently press against hers, closing her eyes she slide her arm around his neck as she gently kissed him back. Slowing melting into him as his tongue pressed lightly against her lips before sliding into her mouth, she rolled onto her back, pulling him on top of her as she did so, her lips not leaving his. He placed a hand on the bed to support his weight as she continued to kiss him, her second arm sliding slowly around his waist and under his T shirt; coming to rest in the small of his back.

Slowly he pulled back and rolled off her, pulling her back towards him. She rested her head on his chest and smiled, he gently kissed the top of her head, "Are you sure about this?"

"No" she replied simply before elaborating, "I've never been less sure about anything. Every logical part of my brain is screaming no, telling me not to be so stupid, and reminding me that you are my boss, that we're in the middle of a highly important undercover assignment and that this is hugely inappropriate." She paused and took a deep breath, "But… but I can't get you out of my head…" She stroked his chest absentmindedly, "I've been dreaming about you… I thought throwing myself into this assignment would help me get over anything I was feeling for you…"

He stroked her hair and gently prompted her to continue, "But…"

"But it didn't work…" She lifted her head to look at him, "So what do we do now?"

He looked down at her, "I guess we have two choices, we let it happen or we ignore it and concentrate on the case…"

"Do you think you can ignore it?"

He shook his head and kissed her, "Not now we've admitted it…"

She nodded in agreement, "Then we must let it happen. It may even help the case; make the idea of Suri and James more believable…"

He slid his arms around her waist, "If anyone is able to have a relationship and not let it interfere with solving a case it's us…"

She moved above him, straddling his waist, "But today there is no more that can be done about the case…" she leant down to gently kiss him, "So what do you propose we do?"

He slid his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him, "I have one or two ideas…"


	9. Parks, Picnics & Ice Skating

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Sorry for the long delay, I was busy writing When Two Worlds Collide which I hope you like. I hope you enjoy this part!

* * *

He reached up and gently brushed his fingers across her cheek, smiling as she shivered slightly at his touch. He leant up and gently pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, "You wanna hear them?"

She laughed and swept her hair out of her face before leaning down and gently kissing his nose, "You suddenly get talkative now, after years of saying as little as possible? How about you just show me…"

He smirked and rolled her onto her back, holding himself over her he gently kissed her forehead. He watched as she closed her eyes before gently placing a kiss on both eyelids and then her nose, finally his lips captured hers, lightly kissing her repeatedly before her hand snaked up around his neck, holding him in place as her tongue gently pressed against his lips before sliding inside his mouth, running along his bottom teeth before brushing up against his own tongue.

She traced her toe up his leg before wrapping her leg around his waist, holding his body against hers. Slowly he pulled away, watching as her eyes opened; dark with desire and filled with frustration at his sudden halt. For a moment he just watched her; knowing that to her his eyes would appear equally dark. Fighting against his own desire he pulled further away from her. She looked up at him puzzled, "I thought this was what you wanted…"

Her voice was small as she spoke, displaying vulnerability like never before and it almost tore his heart in two. He smiled down at her and gently stroked her cheek, "I want you more than you could imagine…"

He rose from the bed and crossed to the dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans and a sweater. Walking back to the bed he smiled at the sight of her tightly wrapped in the sheets and he leant in, kissing her gently before resting his forehead against hers, "Have a shower, get dressed and meet me downstairs in thirty minutes…"

Confusion was evident on her face but her trust in him prevailed and she nodded. Untangling herself from the sheets she slid quietly from the bed, standing on tiptoe she gently kissed his cheek before crossing to the bathroom. He carried his clothes into the room next door, quickly showering and dressing before heading down to the kitchen.

There he found one of the hampers that had been left for them earlier in the week; he emptied it quickly placing the items in cupboards before he began to fill it with enough food for the two of them. He added a bottle of lemonade that a neighbour had made for them and added two glasses to the basket; satisfied with his collection her closed the lid and moved the hamper to the island in the middle of the kitchen.

He paused for a moment looking thoughtful before crossing to the hall closet. He began to search through it, looking for the rug he was sure he had spotted earlier in the week. Locating it he pulled it from the shelf and carried it back to the kitchen, he placed it on top of the hamper and was busy mentally checking her had remembered to pack all he had intended when he felt her arms slide around his waist.

Spotting the pile sitting on the counter over his shoulder she smiled, "Ooh a picnic… Leroy Jethro Gibbs, do not tell me you are secretly a romantic…"

He laughed turning in her arms and gently kissing her, "Ssh… you'll ruin my reputation."

He gently kissed her neck as his arms wrapped around her waist, "I thought we could go for a walk in the woods and have some lunch…"

She grinned and stepped out of his grasp, picking up the blanket she headed towards the back door, she paused and glanced back at him, "What are you waiting for, an invitation? You can carry the hamper…"

He laughed and picked it up crossing the kitchen to join her, he gently entwined his fingers with hers, "You're going the wrong way…"

With that he led her back through the house, grabbing his car keys from the table in the hall. He opened the front door, unlocked the car and placed the hamper on the back seat. He glanced over to the car sitting next to it in the driveway, "I don't see why you get the nicer car..."

She grinned, throwing the blanket into the back of his car before turning to him, stepping closer to him she wrapped her arms around his neck, "That is because I am your gorgeous wife who happens to be a young and yet successful lawyer whose lifestyle requires and beautiful silver soft top Mercedes… You on the other hand are a sensible naval officer with a nice sensible sedan to match." She gently kissed him, "Plus I am Jenny's favourite…"

He laughed, "I don't know about that…"

The knowing look in her eyes mirrored the look in his own, "You are not the only one who has worked with Jenny abroad. I worked with her in Cairo, I saved her life and we spent a lot of time together. Women talk you know… she told me all about Paris…"

He looked down at her disbelievingly, "All about Paris?"

"Oh yes… _All_ about Paris.." she laughed and pulled away from him, she lifted the basket and the rug from his car and unlocked her own placing them in the back seat, "I tell you what you direct me to wherever it is we are going and if you are good I might let you drive home…"

She looked at him and saw his eyes sparkle in a way she'd never seen before, I excited her to see him happy and it pleased her that his happiness was due, at least in part, to her. He took another step towards her, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her flush to him, "Exactly how good do I have to be?"

A smiled tugged at the corner of her mouth, "We'll see…"

She kissed his nose and pulled away, opening the car door and sliding into the driver's seat. She turned the engine on before leaning over and opening the passenger door, "So are you getting in or are you just going to stand there all day?"

He walked around and slid into the car beside her, "Nagging already? You've been taking tips from my ex-wives…"

She laughed and playfully hit him, "It is not too late for me to go off you, you know…"

He leant across smiling and gently kissed her, "I'd rather you didn't…"

She smirked and pulled out of the driveway, following the winding street back to the main road. Pausing at the gate she turned to him, "Which way?"

"Left…" she nodded and pulled out onto the main road, trees flashing past as he directed her through the maze of twisting roads before instructing her to make one final right turn. She glanced at the sign as she pulled into the car park, "Cabin John Regional Park?"

He nodded as she pulled into a space at the edge of the lot, "Shannon and I used to bring Kelly here…"

Ziva smiled, "It is beautiful here…"

She climbed out of the car and picked up the rug, he pulled the hamper from the back seat and rounded the car to stand next to her, taking her hand he gently led her towards a trail entrance, "I think this one goes past a picnic area…"

Together they walked along the dirt path, the forest closing in around them as they continued, bringing with it seclusion and quiet, a sense of being alone in the world. For the first time since their deaths Gibbs found himself opening up about the times he had spent with Shannon and Kelly. Ziva listened smiling as he recalled times spent trekking on horseback and camping out beneath the stars. Glancing up at him she saw his eyes begin to glisten with unshed tears. She stopped, gently pulling on his hand to make him stop too, he turned around to face her and she gently reached up to stroke his cheek, "thank you… Thank you for sharing them with me; I know how hard it is for you…"

He leant down resting his forehead against hers and she continued, "I want you to know you can always talk about your past with me, anytime you want. It will not make me feel uncomfortable or resentful; I am not trying to replace Shannon in your affections…"

He kissed the corner of her mouth, whispering into her skin, "I know…"

He gently kissed her as she tilted her head up towards her, only pulling away as the sound of shouting and laughter alerted them to a family coming along the trail.

Smiling he led her along the trail, stealing glances at her as she admired her surroundings; once or twice her caught him watching her and a smile lit up her features, he couldn't help but smile back at her.

Arriving at the picnic area she spread the rug on the floor; she sat down and waited for Gibbs to join her. Sitting beside her he opened the hamper and began to unpack the food. Her eyes widened at the sight of it all, "How did you manage to do all of this in that little time?"

He laughed pulling her into his arms, "Never underestimate a marine…"

She kissed him deeply as she slid her arm around his neck, "I shall remember that in future…."

He smiled, releasing her from his arms so she could eat. Once they had finished Gibb's began to pack everything away. Standing up his eyes suddenly lit up as he spotted something and she couldn't help but laugh at his childlike glee, "What have you seen?"

He pointed in the direction of a sign, "I forgot there was an ice rink here…"

She shook her head, "Oh no… I don't skate…"

"I'll teach you…"

She looked at him quizzically, "You can skate?"

He nodded, "Stillwater, Pennsylvania, not a whole lot else to do in the winter…"

Unable to dampen his enthusiasm she relented, "Okay, but you better not let me fall…"

He grinned and led her down the path to the rink, quickly paying for the pair of them he changed into his skates and led Ziva towards the ice, "It's easy, you just push off with your foot… Watch…"

He stepped onto the ice and skated around the edge before coming to a stop back in front of her. "See, it's not so hard…"

She gingerly stepped onto the ice and took his hand, slowly skating next o her; he sensed her wobble and spun round, skating backwards as he took both her hands in his, smiling at the look of intense concentration on her face. He patiently led her around the rink as she began to gain confidence. Smiling she looked up into his eyes, "You really love this don't you…"

"I don't get to do it very often anymore…." He let go of her hands and skated behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist he whispered in her ear, "Do you trust me?"

She nodded, "Of course…"

He smiled, "Good… "

He moved his hands to her waist and began to skate faster pushing her along in front of him before moving to hold one hand and dragging her along with him smiling as he heard her begin to laugh. He stopped spinning her in a loop before pulling her into him and gently kissing her in the middle of the ice. She reached up, her hand resting on his cheek as she kissed him back. A bell rang bringing them back to the present and Gibbs smiled down at her, "The session's over, we'd better get off the ice…"

Skating over to the edge they stepped off the ice, crossing to a bench they removed their skates; Gibbs took them both back to the counter and retrieved their shoes. She grinned and pulled them back on, standing she took Gibbs's hand and together they wandered back through the park to the car. Putting the blanket and the hamper in the back seat she tossed her keys to Gibbs, "You can drive home…"


	10. Love & Jealousy

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Sorry for the huge delay, I really struggled with this chapter, I'm still not 100% happy with it but I figured I'd kept you guys waiting long enough, I'm happier with the next couple of chapters I've already started on so hopefully there won't be as much of a wait for them. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

It was still early the next morning when the sun rose above the trees. Sunlight streamed through the open curtains flooding the room with light and gently waking a sleeping Ziva as its warmth reached the skin not covered by the silk of her camisole or the cotton of the duvet cover.

She slowly opened her eyes before gently arching her back, stretching out muscles stiffened by hours in one position before directing her attention back to the man still sleeping beside her.

She moved closer to him and rested her head on his chest, listening contently to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat as her head rose and fell with the gentle movement of his chest. Tilting her head slightly she pressed a gentle kiss into the cloth of his T Shirt; taking advantage of his unconscious state she pressed her face into his chest, taking in the smell that was so uniquely him as she pressed feather light kisses across his torso.

Carefully moving as to not wake him she slid her leg over him, straddling his middle as she leaned forwards placing a hand either side of his head to balance herself. Sweeping her hair back out of her face she leant in gently kissing his forehead. Moving backwards she watched his face for a reaction, finding nothing she leant in once more and gently kissed the tip of his nose. Again she moved back awaiting a reaction and again she found nothing. She quietly laughed to herself before leaning in and placing a flurry of kisses across his lips.

Suddenly she felt his hands travel to her waist, moving away slightly to get a clear view of his face she found his blue eyes open and alert as a smile crossed his face, "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to get there…"

She rolled her eyes and leant down gently capturing his lips with her own once again, "Good morning…"

He smiled before lazily leaning upwards, closing the space between them and gently kissing her in reply, "Morning…"

Ziva smiled and slid back down his body, resting her head on his chest, she felt his arms travel around her protectively as her hand slipped under his T shirt, her fingertips lightly tracing patterns across his chest as she lay contentedly in his arms, "I could stay here all day…"

Gibbs laughed quietly, "You let everyone think you have the temperament of a feral wildcat but really you're just a pussycat…"

She gently kissed his neck, "Gibbs have you never watched the Lion King? Sometimes even Sarabi just likes to lie with Mufasa…"

He looked down at her, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement, "You watch Disney movies?"

She flexed her hand beneath his shirt, her nails digging into his skin and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as a quiet gasp escaped from his lips, "Wild cat enough for you sweetheart?"

When he didn't respond quickly enough for her she dug her nails in again smirking as he moaned again before nodding. She smiled and slid his T shirt upwards, exposing his chest and revealing the crescent moon shaped indentations her nails had left. She bent her head and gently kissed each one before swirling her tongue around his nipple.

He moaned slightly, "Ziva…"

"Hmm…" She moaned in response, he swallowed deeply as her hum sent vibrations throughout his body.

"I thought we discussed this last night..."

"We did…" She lowered her head and kissed his neck, her tongue sweeping into the hollow at the base of his throat.

"And I thought we decided against this until the case was over…"

She pulled back resting a hand on his chest as she looked down into his eyes, a playful smile appearing on her face, "We decided no sex until the case is over, this is not sex Jethro…"

She slid his T shirt over his head and ran her hands teasingly over his chest before trailing kisses down his torso, reaching the waistband of his boxers she looked at him and grinned as she saw him biting his lower lip, crawling back up his body she kissed the spot just below his ear, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking this is probably a really bad idea…" he moaned as she kissed his neck before she roughly captured his lips with hers. He used his weight advantage to roll the pair of them over, forcefully kissing her as he held his weight above her. Pinning her below him he moved down her body, kissing her neck before moving lower and turning his attention to her breasts. She moaned as his lips reached the valley between them and she arched her back upwards, encouraging him to continue.

Gibbs pulled away as a loud ringing filled the room; he sighed rolling off her and reaching out to hit the alarm clock, looking apologetic he leant back into her and gently kissed her. She sighed, "Time to get ready to face the outside world…"

He nodded, "I have a progress meeting with the admiral…"

She gently kissed his chest, "And I have a meeting with a forensic accountant…"

She rose from the bed and padded across the carpet to the bathroom. Turning on the shower she pulled her camisole over her head tossing it into the washing hamper before stepping out of her hot pants and throwing them in the same direction. She stepped into the spacious shower, moving under the spray and allowing the warm water to wash over her. She reached her shower gel from the shelf, squeezing it onto her pouf she squeezed it in her hand creating a lather before running it slowly over her curves, stepping back under the spray she allowed the water to wash away the bubbles before running her hands through her hair and allowing the water to soak it. Reaching for her shampoo she quickly washed her hair before taking the time to slowly massage her conditioner into her hair. She closed her eyes as her fingertips rubbed circles into her scalp, quietly moaning to herself as another pair of hands joined hers and lips began placing gentle kisses on her bare shoulder, "Jethro…"

"Ziver…"

She opened her eyes and turned to see him standing beneath the spray, the water running in rivulets down his chest and almost without realising she took a step towards him; closing the distance between them, sliding her arms around his neck she leant upwards and brushed her lips against his, sighing happily as she felt his arms travel around her waist pulling her flush to him as his lips recaptured hers.

Pulling away she brushed his wet hair from his forehead, "You are going to make me late for work…."

"Me?" He feigned innocence and she laughed. He smiled at her, "I just came to make sure you didn't use up all the hot water…"

She rolled her eyes and finished rinsing her hair. Gently kissing him on the lips as she stepped passed him and out of the shower.

Crossing the bathroom she reached a big fluffy white towel from the rail, wrapping it around her body before reaching for the second smaller towel and twisting it around her head, wrapping her damp curls out of her way. She made her way into her closet and began to dress for the day; dropping her towel she slid into her underwear and pulled a pair of high waisted trousers from a hanger, slipping into them she reached for a silk shirt, slipping it over her head she reached a pair of shoes from the rack and slipped her feet into them before crossing to her dressing table. Perching on the stool she pulled the towel from her hair and patted it dry before pulling it up and pinning it behind her head. Leaving the room she headed downstairs, walking through to the kitchen she turned on the coffee machine.

She was just pouring the contents into two take out cups when she heard him behind her, turning to him she smiled and passed a cup in his direction. Walking past him she reached a jacket from the hallway closet before grabbing her briefcase and keys from the side; she made her way to the front door closely followed by him.

Leaving the house at the same time they made their way over to the cars, both sets of lights flashing as they remotely unlocked them. Ziva laughed as Gibbs opened her door for her, rolling her eyes but graciously sliding into the driver's seat anyway. Pushing the door shut he turned to cover the short distance to his car when he heard her shout; turning he saw she had the window down and was beckoning him back towards her. Closing the gap once more he was surprised to find her hand sliding around his neck as she gently kissed him, resting her forehead against his she whispered, "I love you"

He smiled and gently kissed her in response, "I love you too…"

She smiled before playfully pushing him away, "Now if you don't mind I have a meeting to get to…"

Gibbs laughed and stepped away from the car, watching as she reversed out of the driveway, nodding in response to her wave as she put the car in gear and drove away.

Smiling he slid behind the wheel of his own car, taking another sip of his coffee he placed his cup in the holder and followed her out.

* * *

In MTAC Tony turned reaching for the phone and putting a call into the director. Whilst waiting for her to make her way from her office he re-watched the surveillance footage that had caused him to put in the call in the first place. Looking up as the door opened he hit a button turning the screen black before standing to meet the director, "Director Shepard I'm concerned about the undercover operation"

Jenny looked at him, "Do you suspect their cases have been compromised Agent DiNozzo?"

"Not exactly…" he turned back to the desk and typed in a command, bringing the footage back up on the main screen. Rather than watching it for a third time he turned his attention to the director, watching and waiting for a reaction. He found nothing however as Jenny managed to keep her face neutral despite the pang of jealousy that ran through her at the sight of Gibbs and Ziva's playful parting; memories of her own undercover of assignment with Jethro came flooding back to her but she blocked them out as she turned her attention from the screen back to Tony, "I don't see a problem Agent DiNozzo…"

"Well clearly something is going on…"

Jenny interrupted him before he could continue, "They are undercover as a married couple Tony, of course she kissed him goodbye, it's important that they stick to their roles at all times. They never know when a neighbour may see them or overhear a conversation…"

"Doesn't look like they're just playing to me…" Tony muttered under his breath, annoyed with his own reaction to the situation, he knew he had no claim to Ziva, no reason to be jealous, but he couldn't' help but feel a little put out by the events that he had witnessed on the screen in front of him. He had hoped that considering her own history with Gibbs Jenny would share his view; her response seemed to confirm this was not to be.

"Agent DiNozzo, both Agent Gibbs and Officer David are very capable, highly experienced investigators, neither of them are unfamiliar with working undercover and the idea that anything is going on between them other than what is necessary to make their cover believable is simply ludicrous." Jenny finished and turned to leave the room realising that as much as she was trying to convince and reassure Tony she was also trying to convince herself.

* * *

Pulling into the driveway that evening Gibbs was surprised to find Ziva's silver Mercedes already sitting in its spot; the rush hour traffic in the centre of Washington meant he usually beat her home of an evening. Entering the house he first moved upstairs, stripping the Navy uniform from his body and pulling jeans and a T shirt on he padded back downstairs, his bare feet sinking into the carpet as he followed the sound of her voice through to the kitchen. He smiled as he spotted her happily singing along to the radio as she added ingredients to a pan on the range. He stood silently in the doorway just watching her until she turned to reach something from the island and spotted him, "How long have you been there?"

He smiled closing the distance between them, "Long enough…"

She smiled, "How did your meeting go?"

He shrugged, "Not a lot of progress to discuss… However there is to be a ball in the SECNAV's honour and we have been invited… It seems news of my beautiful wife has done the rounds and there are some three stars who wish to meet you…"

She smiled, "And what if you're beautiful wife does not wish to attend?"

He smiled leaning into her and whispered, "Full dress uniform…"

"Ooh…" She leaned back and looked at him, "I suppose I could be available…"

He smirked "You only want me in when I'm in navy uniform… Do you know what that does to me as a marine?"

"You could wear your dress blues and I'd find you attractive, it's not the uniform it's the man in it… You brush up well…"

"Scrub up… You scrub up well…"

She shrugged and kissed him, "That too…"

He smiled, "So what did the accountant say?"

She sighed, turning back to the range and removing the pan from the heat before perching on the counter, "They can't track the missing money… Well they can but only so far, they can trace it from Washington, through Switzerland and Russia to a series of holding accounts in Brazil but then they lose it. They can't definitively link it to any of our suspects but they do suspect it's in fact more than one person working together…"

He nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Have you spoken to Jenny?"

"Yes, the two of us are to remain here for the time being; she has spoken to the SECNAV and they believe the best way of discovering who is responsible and thus retrieving the missing money is to stay undercover and hope that one of those responsible slips up and reveals something, or that you are invited to take part in the scheme… if we have nothing in three months she says she will meet with him again and reassess the situation."

Gibbs banged his fist on the counter beside her, "3 months? 3 months on the off chance that one of them accidently says something? We should be out their solving murders not playing happy families in some suburb"

She slid her hand over his, "I know, and you know I'd rather be doing that too but we really don't have a lot of choice…" She reached up and stroked his chest before hopping down in front of him, "We'll just have to make the most of it…"


	11. Roses, Lilies & The Lion King

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Okay so the hopefully no huge delay thing went out the window when my computer battery died and took the chapter with it, fortunately I managed to get it charged enough to copy the file over to my ipod and I've stolen my brother's laptop to finish it off and post. Hope you enjoy! Any thoughts are loved!

* * *

Gibbs smiled as he woke up and found Ziva curled tightly against him. It had been just under a month since they had admitted their feelings for one another and some mornings he still couldn't believe that he had found her, that what they had went beyond the front of Suri and James; went beyond what he had shared with three of his wives. He sometimes struggled to believe exactly how happy she made him, it was a feeling he had rarely felt since losing Shannon but was slowly becoming re-accustomed to.

His attention was drawn back to her as he felt her stir in his arms, glancing down at her he smiled and gently kissed her forehead, "Morning…"

She smiled sleepily at him, "Good morning…" She snuggled closer into him; resting her head on his chest she gently kissed him, "Are you not cold? It's still February and you are not wearing a shirt…"

He laughed, "I was wearing one when I came to bed… Someone had other ideas…"

She smiled innocently and reached up to gently press her lips to his, "I can not begin to imagine what you mean…"

He laughed again and she smiled, she was slowly becoming familiar with this whole new side of Gibbs, but she knew she would never tire of the way his eyes sparkled when he laughed. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, "You know what day it is?"

She looked him squarely in the eye, "Of course, it is Friday"

He rolled his eyes, "Anything else?"

She looked at him blankly, "The fourteenth…"

He looked back at her, "Of?"

"February… I only just mentioned that…"

He nodded, "And?"

She stared back into his eyes, "And?"

He rolled her onto her back and leaned over her, "It's Valentine's Day Ziva…"

She smirked and slid her arm around his neck as she reached up and gently kissed him, "You thought I had forgotten?" She slipped out from under him and walked to her closet, standing on tip toe she reached down a bundle hidden on the top shelf. Slipping back onto the bed she slid across to him and handed them to him.

He smiled as he took them, "Two cards?"

She nodded, "One from Suri to her gorgeous husband, and one from me to you…" she leaned in and gently kissed him, "Happy Valentine's Day Jethro…"

He smiled and opened the cards before turning his attention to the accompanying package. He began to unwrap it when she reached for his hand, pausing him, "This is for James from Suri; it is not my gift to you…"

He nodded in understanding before he finished opening the package, he opened the box to find a stainless steel watch nestled amongst the navy blue velvet, he smiled as he gently kissed her, "Thank you".

She smiled, "My pleasure…"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him kissing her deeply, "I love you."

She smiled at him as she gently kissed him in response, "I know…"

He pulled away from her and fished a card from the drawer in his nightstand. "This is from James to his beautiful wife… You'll get yours later…"

She laughed as she opened the card, "You forgot?"

He shook his head, "What did I tell you?"

She paused and looked at him, "Never underestimate a marine…"

He smiled and kissed her, "Exactly"

She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him, her hand travelling up into his silver hair as her tongue slid into his mouth, gently brushing against his own before she slowly pulled away, "I love you"

He rested his hands in the small of her back, "I love you too…"

She quickly kissed him before pulling away, "I have to get ready for work…"

He nodded and released her from his grasp, watching as she made her way across the room and into the bathroom.

* * *

"Suri Cooper?"

Ziva looked up from her desk at the sound of her cover name and looked around the office for the source; finally her eyes settled on what appeared to be a walking, talking bunch of roses. She sat puzzled as the voice repeated the question, as a head appeared from behind the flowers she raised her hand slightly, "That's me…"

The girl moved in her direction and carefully deposited the flowers on her desk, "Happy Valentine's Day Mrs Cooper."

Ziva smiled in response, "Thank you…"

She watched as the girl left the office before attempting to find a spot on her desk for her flowers, that would allow her to actually see her computer screen; finally positioning them a white envelope hidden amongst the blooms caught her eye, reaching for it she slid the card from the envelope and read the contents, _'This is only round one. All my love. J. x'_

She smiled to herself as she slid the card back into the envelope and amongst the flowers. She turned her attention back to the text she was translating but every now and then she allowed her mind to wander as she pondered just what he had meant when he had written _'this is only round one'_

She wasn't left wondering for long, just as she was about to leave for lunch she heard her name called for the second time. Peering around the roses she spotted a man standing in the middle of the room wearing a visitor's badge and holding a long flat package. She stood up, "Yes…"

She made her way over to him and took the package from him, thanking him as he left she crossed back to her desk and reached for the card balanced on top. _"Because it turns out my crazy ninja chick has a sweet tooth…"_

She laughed quietly as she opened the lid and found the box filled with chocolates from a tiny shop they had stumbled across a couple of weeks before.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly and without further surprises until the clock showed that she had only thirty minutes of her working day left. She looked up as her name was called for the third time, glancing around the room she found that almost everyone else was looking at her with a mixture of intrigue and jealousy. She stood, "Over here…"

The courier quickly made his way over to her and passed her the box, "Happy Valentine's Day Mrs Cooper…"

She smiled and wished him the same before sitting and opening the card she had spotted nestled amongst the ribbons on top. _'Because even African wildcats just want a hug sometimes. X'_

She knew everyone in the office was watching her but his message had piqued her interest and so she lifted the lid from the box. She couldn't help but laugh as she saw the contents, lifting the DVD from the box she found another note attached, _'Turns out they don't make Sarabi and Mufasa toys, I shall be having words with Disney on your behalf but for now Simba and Nala will have to do, x'_

She laughed again and reached into her bag for her phone, she flipped it open and sent a simple text to Gibbs, it read, _'You were right. I should never underestimate you. Z xxx'_

* * *

Turning into the driveway that evening she found Gibbs's sedan already sitting in its usual spot on the driveway; pulling up alongside it she cut the engine and looked up to find Gibbs standing in the doorway. She waved to him as she stepped from the car and rounded the hood. By the time she had opened the passenger door and lifted the flowers from their position on the seat he was standing behind her. She smiled as she turned around and came face to face with him, "Hello you…"

He took the flowers from her and leaned in gently kissing her, the bouquet shielding them from the watchful eyes of the hidden camera, "Hello…"

She gently kissed him again before turning back to the car and lifting out the two remaining packages. Pushing the door closed with her hip she made her way up the driveway and into the house. Depositing the boxes on the table in the hall she turned to Gibbs, "Thank you for my presents…"

He placed the flowers on the table and closed the door, "My pleasure…"

She slid her arms around his waist as a mischievous glint appeared in her eye, "Anyone would think you were getting soft in your old age…"

She gasped slightly as she felt his hands around her waist as he roughly pushed her against the wall; pinning her between it and him as his lips roughly captured hers, his tongue forcing its way inside her mouth as he dominated the kiss. His hand ran up her thigh as she hooked her leg around his waist. She moaned as his lips left hers and found her neck. She gasped loudly as he ground against her, "Okay! Okay you are not…"

He growled into her ear, "Not what?"

"Not…" She gasped again as he ground into her once more, "You are not… going soft…"

He pulled away slightly and she moved with him, her arms still around his neck. He brushed a hand across her stomach and she gasped; her nerve endings still hypersensitive. He smirked at her reaction and she leant up kissing him, "Try not to look so smug…"

He laughed and leant down kissing her, trailing his hand up her back he smirked once again as he heard her breath catch. She pulled away and rolled her eyes before taking his hand and leading him through the house. Pausing in the kitchen she turned to him, smiling at the puzzled expression on his face, "I think it is time for you to have your present from me…"

She walked into the utility room and turned to him, "What are you waiting for?"

He followed her into the room and looked around, she laughed, "Well it is not in here…"

She pushed him through a door into one of the garages before flipping the switch and filling the space with light. She waited expectantly as he looked around the room before he turned to her with a smile on his face. She stepped towards him, "Do you like it?"

"Ziver…" For the first time in a long while he found himself speechless so he simply pulled her to him kissing her gently before resting his head on top of hers, "Thank you…"

She slowly slid her arms around him gently stroking his back, "I thought if we were going to be here for a while you might like it. I can tell you miss your basement… At the store they told me these were the best tools around, I do not think they were lying to me, though they were surprised when I insisted on hand tools…"

He laughed, "It's perfect, I'll have to teach you some things…"

She smiled up at him, "I would like that very much…"

He kissed her forehead, "But now you need to get changed, we have dinner reservations…."

* * *

A little under an hour later Ziva was finishing in the shower as Gibbs quietly filled weekend bags for the pair of them, he snuck out to the car, hiding them in the trunk before heading back into the house and waiting for her in the den.

He smiled as he heard her on the stairs and stood to meet her as she crossed the hallway towards him; he leant in placing his hand on her waist as he gently kissed her, "You look beautiful..."

She smiled and slid her arms around his neck as she gently kissed him, "Thank you... You look fairly good yourself..."

He laughed and took her hand leading her from the house, grabbing the car keys from the side on the way. he smiled as he unlocked the car, sliding into the driver's seat and ignoring her protests as he leant across and opened the passenger door, "You coming or are you going to sulk because I'm driving..."

Ziva pouted but slid into the car beside him, "It's my car..."

He rolled his eyes and started the engine, "Don't pout..."

She turned to him arching an eyebrow in frustration, "Why not?"

"Because it makes me want to do things to you..."

The corner of her mouth twitched into a smile before she pouted again, laughing as Gibbs leaned into her, kissing her deeply, his teeth gently tugging on her bottom lip as he pulled away, "I warned you..."

She couldn't help but laugh as she enjoyed the playful atmosphere he had created, "Maybe I will have to pout more often..."

He smiled and gently kissed her again, "Not right now or we'll be late for dinner..."

She nodded her consent before sitting back and pulling her seatbelt around her. She gently placed his hand on her knee as he pulled out of the driveway; it remained there for the entire ride into the city. Stepping from the car she slipped her arm into his as they made their way into the restaurant.

Sitting opposite him she hid her smile behind her menu as she glanced over at him, still enjoying the new side of Gibbs she was uncovering, and enjoying the side of herself she was rediscovering.

They sat happily enjoying each others company as they waited for their meals to arrive. Ziva smiled at the waitress as she placed their meals on the table before turning her attention back to Gibbs as he shared tales of his childhood; laughing she barely registered she had finished her meal until the waitress reappeared the remove their plates. Reaching out and capturing his hand in hers she absent-mindedly traced patterns across his palm, he smiled as he caught her hand stilling her actions, "Ready to go?"

She looked up at him, "What about dessert?"

"It's all taken care of..." He rose from his seat and walked to her side of table, taking her hand and leading her through the restaurant to the cloakroom. Waiting for her coat she turned to him, "Did we pay?"

He nodded, "It's the prize from the charity auction..."

She smiled, "What else was in the package?"

He smiled mysteriously, "That's need to know Ziver..."

She arched her eyebrow, "And I don't need to know..."

He shook his head, "Not yet..." Taking her coat he led her back out to the car, settling into the car he pulled out of the parking lot and made his way through the streets of Washington. He rolled his eyes as Ziva continued questioning him trying to find out where they were headed; pausing at a stop sign he turned to Ziva, "Are you going to stop asking questions or am I going to have to gag you?"

She bit her lip as she smiled at him, "I shall be quiet..."

Gibbs laughed quietly and continued driving. He turned into the national arboretum and made his way along the road to the car park nearest the Rose Garden. He pulled into a space and got out of the car, walking around to the other side he opened the car door and offered Ziva his hand, she took it and stepped out of the car, looking around a little puzzled, "I thought it closed at sunset…"

He nodded, "I made special arrangements…" he slid his arm around her waist and gently led her through the trees to a clearing where she spotted a rug spread on the ground, another huge bouquet of flowers, this time roses and lilies, and a picnic hamper. She glanced up at him, "Lilies… They're my favourite…"

"I know…" He gently kissed her, "Do you know they are supposed to represent love at first sight…"

She looked up at him, "Is that so…" He nodded and she smiled at him before sitting down on the rug and smelling the flowers. Sitting next to her he reached into the hamper and pulled out a bottle of champagne, he poured her a glass and passed it to her as she looked around in awe. He smiled at her amazement before pulling a card from the basket, "I told you I hadn't forgotten…"

She smiled and opened the card, "Thank you…"

He smiled and reached a small oblong shaped box from the hamper, "Happy Valentine's Day Zee…"

She arched an eyebrow in his direction, "Zee?"

He shrugged and leaned over gently kissing her as he handed her the box, "Just trying it out..."

She laughed and turned her attention to the box, carefully pulling the ribbon from it before slowly lifting the lid, "Oh _ahuvi_, it's beautiful…"

He smiled as he gently lifted it from the box, fastening it around her wrist, "I know it's a little bare still but I thought we could add to it…."

She smiled and looked at the charms already on the bracelet, "An ice skate…"

He nodded, "Our first date… The Star of David because I know your religion is important to you. The trainer represents the side of you that appears in the gym everyday and could beat almost anybody you come up against in a fight, and the shoe is for the side of you that secretly quite likes putting on posh dresses and being girly…"

She smiled sliding onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her, "I love you…"

He dipped his head and gently kissed the back of her neck, "I love you too…"

She leant back against him and linked her fingers with his, "This is where we posed for our wedding photos…"

He squeezed her hand, "Y'know that had occurred to me…"

She grinned and turned to face him, "I thought I warned you about being smug…"

He gently kissed her, "I thought I was the boss…"

"Not once we are outside of office hours…" she ran her hands up his back, before casually encircling his neck with her arms as she kissed him, "So you picked this spot intentionally…"

"Of course…"

She turned back around and leant against him once more; sitting quietly in thought she absentmindedly traced patterns across his thigh with her fingertips before she spoke, "Did you find it strange? The photos..."

"Strange? Maybe a little but I have had some practice." He paused as she laughed, "What about you?"

She shook her head, "I suppose the strangest thing was that it did not feel strange…" She smiled as she felt his arms travel around her waist, "We had a lot of fun that afternoon…"

He smiled, "Yes we did…"

She laughed slightly, "Do you remember when you picked me up…"

He grinned, "I do…"

"And I kissed you… I…"

She paused, and he gently turned her head to face him, "You what…."

She tried to look away but his hand prevented her from turning away, his blue eyes searching hers for the answer, "I…I forgot for a moment that it was only for show…"

She blushed and he gently stroked her cheek, she shifted slightly so she was kneeling between his legs, she linked her fingers with hers as she looked up into his eyes, "You and I… we are very lucky." He smiled as she became more serious, "We have a bond far stronger than most husband and wives could ever hope for. Even before we were…" She paused searching for the right word to describe what they had, "Together we had such a deep level of trust and understanding, I suppose that is why it felt so natural posing for those photos… I have saved your life and you have saved mine… On more than one occasion… After Ari, when I first joined your team you made me belong, despite Kate, despite everything. In fact I do not know what I would do without you, when you were injured in that explosion… I did not know how to cope, I knew I could not see you because I would fall apart, and that would not help anyone, you had become someone I looked up to, someone that I knew would never let me come to harm and I could not bare to see you so broken and in pain and so I tried to continue as if you were there, to get on with my job. Abby, she thought I did not care, she slapped me" Ziva laughed quietly, "She did not understand it was simply my way of coping until I was ready to face you. It hurt so much when you didn't remember me…After everything we had been through together" Her voice shook as she continued, "I do not think I could go through that again…"

He pulled her to him, holding her tightly, "You brought me back Zee… Not Jenny not Ducky, you did that…"

"And then you left…"

"Not because of you… I was just angry… With the agency, I couldn't look anyone in the eye knowing that those people died and that we could have stopped it…."

She sniffed and looked up at him, "But you came back, when I needed you… I don't think I thanked you enough…"

He held her tightly and kissed her hair, "I would always come for you Ziver…"

She nodded, "I know…" She melted against him as he continued to stroke her hair, "And I would always come for you…"

She sat in his arms comforted by his mere presence until she started to shiver, he brushed her hair from her face and gently kissed her "You're freezing Zee, let's go back to the hotel…"

"Hotel?"

He nodded, "Part of the experience is two nights in the Ritz-Carlton suite…"

She looked at him in shock, "Really?"

He nodded, "Really…"

She grinned, "But I have no spare clothes..."

He smiled and looked at her, she playfully hit him, "You've packed haven't you!" He nodded, "When did you do that?"

He gently kissed her neck, "Whilst you were in the shower..."

She leant back against him, "You are full of surprises..."

He rested his head on her shoulder, "I'm just treating my wife on Valentine's day..."

She turned to him, "But would you if I really were your wife?"

"Would you want to be my wife?"

"I do not know, you and marriage do not seem to work very well together..."

He laughed, "That is true..."

She paused and looked him in the eye, "I do not say I love you lightly though... I am, what is the expression, in it for the long haul..."

He nodded, "Me too..."

She reached up, gently stroking his cheek before leaning in and very gently kissing him. She sighed happily as she felt his arms wrap around her, holding her securely; she knew for certain she had made the right decision that morning she had admitted to herself, and to him, that she had fallen for him.


	12. My Very Own Aurora

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Thank you for the lovely comments! It was so hard deciding what they would give each other for Valentine's day, Ziva is one hard woman to buy for lol. This part is pretty much a direct continuation of the last chapter and I hope you enjoy! One last question, the last chapter was a little longer than the previous, and the next one looks like it will be long as well, do people mind reading the longer chapters or would you prefer it if I found a way to split them down into two or three small chapters?

* * *

Gibbs wrapped his arm around Ziva's waist, holding her close to him as the two of them made their way back to the car. He gently kissed her as he opened the passenger door for her, watching as she gracefully slid into the seat before carefully closing the door behind her and walking around to the driver's side.

Getting into the car himself he turned on the engine and slowly pulled out of the lot, winding his way through the unlit roads of the arboretum. He paused at the exit and glanced across at Ziva; she smiled at him and turned her attention to the rings on her left hand, twisting her engagement ring around her finger. He smiled slightly, "You okay Zee?"

She nodded, "I am finally getting used to wearing them now…" She laughed slightly as she leant back against the headrest, "It will probably be stranger when I do not have them on anymore…"

He smiled at her before refocusing his attention on the road as he pulled out into the late night traffic. He made his way quickly through the city, laughing quietly to himself as the gentle snores that had become so familiar to him filled the car. Pulling up in front of the hotel he quietly slipped from the car, walking to the back he opened the trunk and lifted out their weekend bags. He smiled in gratitude as a porter appeared at his side and offered to take the bags; he handed them to him before passing the car keys to the waiting valet. His hands now free he walked to the passenger door and quietly opened it, leaning over the sleeping Ziva he carefully undid her seatbelt before gently lifting her from the car, pressing a light kiss to her forehead as her head lulled against his shoulder.

He followed the porter through the main doors and into the reception area, crossing the impressive space he made his way over to the desk, carefully shifting Ziva's weight to free up his hand he signed the waiting forms before following the porter into the elevator. He gazed down at her sleeping form as he waited for the elevator to reach the top floor.

As the doors opened the porter stepped out and led the way down the corridor to the suite. Gibbs waited patiently as the porter unlocked the door and stepped inside, leaving the two bags just inside the door and the key card on the table, walking into the suite he looked around, quietly thanking the porter as he backed out of them room closing the door behind him. Gibbs walked through the suite, eventually coming to the main bedroom; he gently placed Ziva on the bed before going back to the lounge space and picking up their bags. Carrying them through he found her nightwear and carefully changed her into it, pulling back the sheets he laid her beneath them before stripping down to his t shirt and boxers and slipping in beside her. She rolled into him as his weight caused the mattress to dip slightly and he slid his arm around her, gently kissing her forehead as she snuggled into him before dozing off himself.

The following morning he woke first and carefully rose from the bed, leaving her sleeping amongst the luxurious sheets. He quickly showered before he turned on the taps and begun to fill the bath, wanting to have it ready for her when she finally awoke. He quietly dressed and wandered through to the sitting room, turning on the television and flicking through to find a news channel before settling into the sofa. Twenty minutes later he went to check on the bath, turning off the taps as the water level began to near the top. He walked back into the bedroom, pausing in the doorway and smiling at the sight of her clutching his pillow and mumbling in her sleep. He sat on the edge of the bed, leaning down and gently kissing the exposed portion of her neck, returning to his upright position as she slowly awoke. He smiled at her as she stretched; rubbing her eyes before glancing around looking for him, her eyes finally meeting his as he quietly chuckled.

"I think I am going to have to start calling you Aurora..."

She looked at him clearly puzzled as she slowly crawled towards him, "Aurora?"

He nodded as he gently kissed her, "My very own sleeping beauty..."

She laughed as she slid onto his lap, "I am not the only one that watches Disney movies then..."

He smiled, "It was one of Kelly's favourites, that and The Little Mermaid..."

She smiled and gently kissed him, "Did I ruin last night?"

"Of course not..." He kissed her again, "I ran you a bath..."

She smiled seductively at him, "Join me?"

He laughed, "I think I'm a little old for that..."

She pouted and he pushed her back onto the bed, holding himself over her, "I thought I warned you about pouting..." She laughed as his lips closed on hers, her arms travelled around his waist, slipping under his t shirt and running across his back, her fingers tracing out his well defined muscles as they held his weight above them. His eyes locked onto hers and she shivered as the intensity in his gaze burnt into her.

After what seemed like an eternity but was in fact only seconds he pulled away, rolling off her and rising from the bed he smiled, "Your bath will be getting cold..."

She frowned slightly at his rapid change in demeanour, "Okay..." She pausing looking critically at him, "Is something wrong?"

He paused slightly before answering, "We have one rule Ziva... I can't break it, I don't want to jeopardise the case, or us..."

She nodded as she rose from the bed; retrieving her cell from the table he had placed it on the previous night. Sliding her negligee over her head she looked back over her shoulder as she tossed it onto the bed, playfully winking at him as she made her way into the bathroom. Shedding her bra and panties she stepped into the bath, placing her phone on the wide ledge behind her before slowly sinking through the rich foam and into the warm water beneath, her head rested on the cushioned pad and her eyes slowly closed at she took in the rich scents of the bath oils Gibbs had poured for her.

Her eyes opened as she heard movement in the room and she smiled as she spotted him standing just inside the doorway, "You change your mind? It is a very big tub..."

He laughed as he walked towards her, "No... I'm just about to order some room service, you want some breakfast?"

"Sure..." She paused looking thoughtful, "French toast would be nice..."

He nodded and leant down to kiss her forehead, without warning her hand shot out of the water, her fingers closing tightly around the fabric of his shirt and she gave a sharp tug, pulling him into the bath with her. After a moment he resurfaced spluttering slightly, his hair plastered to his forehead and his clothes clinging tightly to his body, he glared at her as she began to giggle, "Not funny Ziver..."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and flipped it open; Ziva watched as he tried to turn it on, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing she took it from him and dropped it onto the floor, "That is not going to turn on now Jethro..."

He sighed and she grabbed his shirt pulling him towards her and kissing him, "I'd apologise, but that, I am told, is a sign of weakness..."

He couldn't help but smile slightly as he kissed her back; her hands found the bottom of his shirt, breaking the kiss briefly she pulled it over his head and dropped it over the side. Her hand slid around his neck, pulling him back towards her, the pair of them painfully aware that this was the closes they had come to breaking their solitary rule. Her breath was hot against his ear as he bent, kissing her neck, she tilted her head slightly, kissing the corner of his mouth until he moved back upright and began to kiss her, her hand travelling under the water, her fingers were playing with the button on his jeans when her phone began to ring. She sighed, grabbing her towel and drying her hands before reaching behind for the phone that had escaped the splash Gibbs's entrance to the tub had created. She flicked it open, accepting the call just as Gibbs kissed her neck, causing her to giggle.

"Suri Cooper..." Her eyes widened slightly as she recognised the voice on the other end of the phone, she put her finger to his lips quietening him as she responded, "Director Shepard..."

Gibbs froze at the mention of the director, before he sat, moving away from Ziva to the opposite end of the tub. A puzzled look crossed Ziva's face as she listened to the Director's side of the call, "Agent Gibbs is fine, he's here with me now..." A smile grew on her face, "Oh you have been trying to call him?" She couldn't help but giggle as Gibbs glared in her direction, "He had a little accident with his cell, he dropped it in the bath..." She smirked slightly and held out the phone in his direction, "The director would like to speak with you..."

He dried his hand and took the phone from her, "Jen..." He slowly rose from the bath, making as little noise as possible determined to extricate himself from his current position without make Jenny suspicious. He glared at Ziva as she watched him with amusement.

He stepped from the bath, and Ziva slipped further into the bubbles as she watched the water running down his body, the weight of the water in his jeans causing them to sit very low on his hips and once again she found herself biting down on her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing. He rolled his eyes and turned away from her as he continued the conversation, "Is something wrong?"

He turned back to Ziva a slightly puzzled expression on his face, "We're both fine, why would you think otherwise?" Ziva watched from the tub trying to guess what the director was saying to illicit such a response from Gibbs, "No I know the car isn't in the driveway, we stayed at a hotel last night. How do you know the car isn't in the driveway?"

Ziva watched as his expression changed from puzzled to annoyed before his eyes flashed with barely concealed anger, "You've been watching us?"

Ziva quietly rose from the bath, wrapping her towel around her and crossing the short space to him, placing a hand on his shoulder on what she hoped would be a calming gesture. He glanced back at her acknowledging her presence before continuing his conversation, "DiNozzo said what? Look Jen what happened in Paris was a mistake, a distraction, it was unprofessional and it compromised the case I won't let it happen again." Ziva gently rubbed his shoulder as she felt his muscles tense, "I want it gone Jen, it's not beneficial to the investigation."

With that he hung up and turned to face Ziva, she could tell from his eyes he was still angry and she reached out the gently stroke his cheek, "You are angry because part of what she said was true... You are concerned that we are being unprofessional by starting a relationship whilst we are undercover..."

He sighed and looked at her and at once she saw his eyes soften, "How do you do it Zee? How do you read me so easily?"

She shrugged playfully, "It's a gift..." She reached her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, "If it helps we could always finish this, just until the case is over...."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, "That's the last thing I want Ziver..." He kissed her forehead, "I love you..."

She smiled, "I love you too..." She smirked slightly before undoing his belt and watching as his jeans fell to the floor, "I think they were a little waterlogged..." She left his embrace and walked across to the door reaching for one of the fluffy robes and gently tossed it in his direction before picking up the second for herself. She dropped her towel and slid it on pulling it tightly around her before pulling the cord around and tying it.

She turned to find he had stripped off his equally wet boxers and pulled the robe around himself. Taking his hand she led him back through to the sitting room, sliding onto the sofa she waited for him to sit before curling up against him, "You order the room service and I'll pick a film..."

She watched as he reached back grabbing the phone from the table behind the sofa and dialling, snuggled closer to him gently kissing his neck as he made the call. He smiled at her as he put the phone down before lowering his head and gently kissing her, she smiled and turned her attention to the television, quickly choosing a film before settling her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms loosely around him as the words to _A Circle of Life_ filled the room.


	13. Balls & Broken Rules

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** Once again thank you for all the lovely comments! It's so nice to know people are still enjoying this! I ended up splitting this chapter as it was just getting too long, none the less this chapter is still just above 4,000 words so I hope you enjoy!  


* * *

Gibbs was already dressed in his dress uniform and lounging on the sofa waiting patiently when he heard her calling his name from upstairs, walking out into the hallway he looked up to find her standing in her underwear holding a garment bag in each hand. He arched an eyebrow and she looked down at him, "I don't know what to wear..."

He laughed and she frowned slightly, he looked up at her apologetically, "I'm sorry Zee I just never expected to hear you say that... ever... It's a black and white ball Zee surely that narrows down your choice..."

She rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yes, to black..." She gestured to one bag, "Or white..." She gestured to the other.

He smiled, "Try the white one on..."

She nodded and disappeared back into the bedroom, he leant back against the wall to wait for her reappearance. Ten minutes later she appeared on the landing in a floor length white halter neck dress. She smiled as she reached the top of the stairs and spotted the appreciative look on his face, she slowly made her way down the stairs, "What do you think? Not too wedding-y?"

He laughed, "Wedding-y?" He shook his head, "Not that I'd have any issues with saying 'I do' if you walked down the aisle in it..."

She laughed as she reached him and gently kissed him, "Four wives tells me you never struggle with the 'I do'... Three ex-wives tells me it is the bit that comes after you have difficulty with..."

He laughed wrapping his arms around her, "If it makes you feel any better I was always the divorced..."

She gently stroked his cheek, "Oh you poor thing..."

The teasing was clear in her voice and so he decided to carry on their little game, he nodded slightly woefully, "You'd never divorce me would you..."

She smirked, "That makes the assumption I would marry you in the first place..."

He laughed and pulled her even closer to him, "So Ziva David, would you marry me..."

She looked up into his eyes and saw despite the fact they were still sparkling he was deadly serious, "Yes, yes I would..." She smiled and gently kissed him, "Ask me properly when the case is over..."

He smiled and kissed her deeply, suddenly feeling incredibly lucky and extremely proud that she had agreed to become his wife, in theory at least. It was a feeling, he realised he had very rarely felt to this extent in his life, he could in fact count the comparable moments on one hand: The moment he had joined the corps; The moment Shannon had agreed to become his wife; The moment she had told him they were to be parents and the moment he had first held Kelly in his arms.

Their moment was broken by the sound of a car horn outside, he smiled at her, "You ready to go?"

She nodded and slipped her hand into his as he led them from the house and into the waiting car. Sliding along the seat to be next to him she rested her head on his shoulder, her fingers intertwining with his once again as they were driven into Washington.

Pulling up outside Union Station Gibbs slipped from the car, offering her his hand as she followed him out of the car, smiling she linked her arm through his as they made their way up the stairs, her attention was focused entirely on him but he couldn't help but notice just how many men were looking at the pair of them, no doubt wondering what the two of them were doing there together. He was more than aware of the fact Ziva looked absolutely stunning, the white of her dress emphasised the golden glow of her tanned skin, her hair hung in loose curls across one shoulder and her long eyelashes curled upwards making her warm brown eyes even more striking.

He leant down and whispered in her ear, "Every man in here is thinking you look gorgeous, and they're all wondering what on earth you're doing here with me."

She laughed, "Self pity is not a trait that suits you..." she leant up and gently kissed him, "And if what you say is true then right now every man in here is wishing they were you..."

He smiled slightly as they made their way into the main hall, his arm draped casually around her waist as they moved amongst the mingling crowds on their way to their table. Sitting down they introduced themselves to the others already sitting at the table and joined in with the light conversation as they waited for their meal.

Partway through the meal Ziva glanced up and spotted a familiar red head seated several tables over from them, she leant into Gibbs, "Jenny's here..."

He casually looked over in that general direction before lowering his head to whisper in her ear, "And she's brought DiNozzo as her date..."

She glanced up again, "Do you think they know we are here?"

At that point Jenny glanced up from her meal, turning to speak to a waiter, when her eyes locked onto theirs Ziva noticed how they flashed briefly with jealously before a well rehearsed mask fell once again and her eyes returned to a look of neutral disinterest. Gibbs squeezed Ziva's hand under the table, "I guess she does now..."

As they finished the meal they moved from their table keen to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the director. Ziva took two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to Gibbs before sliding her free hand into his. Slowly sipping her champagne she glanced up at him, "Remind me why we are here tonight?"

He looked at her, "Because some important people wanted to meet my beautiful wife..."

She smiled as she finished her drink, "And are you going to dance with your beautiful wife tonight?"

He looked around to find that a large number of couples had already taken to the dance floor, he took her empty glass from her and placed it on a nearby table along with his own before taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor, smiling as she moved her hands to his shoulders he slowly began to dance, he leant in to whisper in her ear, "Last time I had to almost drag you onto the dance floor..."

She smiled, "Maybe I just wanted a good excuse to be near you..."

He laughed quietly as he subtly tightened his grip on her waist pulling her closer to him, "Near enough?"

She relaxed completely into his arms, her head resting on her shoulder as he slowly led her around the dance floor, free of the case for the night their attention was focused solely on one another and neither of them spotted Jenny and DiNozzo watching them with interest.

Ziva looked up from her position on Gibbs's shoulder and found him watching her; she smiled slightly, it growing wider as she saw him begin to smile back. She found herself drawn in by his gorgeous blue eyes; it was something that had been happening more and more frequently. She had always found the blue of his eyes attractive but the extra life she now found in them, the way they sparkled made them practically irresistible and she realised that without any direct intention her lips had found his, her hand resting lightly on his cheek as she kissed him and it remained there as he pulled away smiling. She laughed slightly as she noticed some of her lip gloss had remained on his lips. He looked at her puzzled at her obvious amusement and she smiled even more, "We have a slight lip gloss situation..." She lovingly brushed her thumb across his lips to remove it and he gently kissed her hand, "I'm going to put some more on, I'll be right back..."

She smiled and left his side, slowly making her way through the crowds in the direction she thought the restrooms were. She was so busy looking for the doorway she was sure she had seen earlier she didn't spot the red head begin to follow her. Slipping into the restroom she was surprised to find it empty despite the vast number of people mingling outside. Reaching into her bag she pulled out her lip gloss and swiftly reapplied it. She was casually checking the rest of her make up when she heard the door open and close, slipping her gloss back into her bag she turned to leave and discovered Jenny blocking her way, she smiled slightly, "Director Sheppard..."

Jen nodded, "Officer David, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight..."

Ziva smiled, "Well Gibbs said one of the admirals at the Pentagon extended the invitation to us, he said that they wanted to meet Suri..."

Jen's eyes narrowed slightly, if only for a second, "You've been introduced to them all have you? Only you and Gibbs seemed rather wrapped up in one another..."

Ziva laughed, "We are playing a role Jenny, a role which you insisted the pair of us take on and then insisted we carry on when the pair of us would have rather returned to our normal work."

Jenny looked to her, "And exactly how thoroughly are you playing your role Ziva?"

Ziva looked a little confused, "I do not understand the question..."

"I mean are you sleeping with him..."

Ziva's eyes narrowed, "As long as our commitment to the case remains I do not see how that could be any of your concern, but for the record we are not."

Jenny looked at her critically, "Clearly I have given you too much credit, I assumed you were too intelligent to fall for a man playing a role; apparently I was wrong. For the record Leroy Jethro Gibbs is only capable of loving himself and his dead wife"

Ziva nodded slightly, clenching her empty hand into a fist as she fought back the tears that threatened to fall for some reason she couldn't comprehend, she knew none of what Jenny had said was true but for some reason it still hurt to hear. "After Paris Director, I would say you were in no position to judge... unless that is the problem, Gibbs didn't love you... or perhaps he did once but you were foolish enough to let him go and now he's moved on and you haven't..."

Just then the door opened and Ziva took advantage of the newcomer's interruption to slip past Jenny and out of the room. She quickly made her way through the main hall to reach Gibbs and he smiled as she returned to his side, "Battling for mirror space?"

"What?"

He smiled, "You were gone for a long time, did you have to wait for a mirror?"

"Oh I see... No..."

He smiled at her and noticed her eyes were still shining with unshed tears; he gently tilted her head up towards him, his hand resting on his cheek, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head slightly, "Nothing"

He frowned slightly, "Ziver..."

She sighed, "It is silly. I bumped into Jenny and she said some things but I know they are not true and so I do not know why it upset me so much."

"What did she say?"

"It is not important." She looked up at him and saw the look in his eyes, she sighed once again before continuing, "She said she thought I was too intelligent to fall for a man playing a role and that you were incapable of loving anyone but yourself and Shannon."

She saw his eyes flash with anger as he looked around the room for her; Ziva tightened her grip on his hand and brought his attention back to her, "Don't... I know it is not true, the way you look at me in the mornings when you first wake up..." She giggled slightly, "You are certainly not alert enough to manage to fake anything..."

He rolled his eyes before resting his hands in the small of her back and pulling her closer to him gently kissing her cheek, "I do love you"

She smiled, "I love you too"

At that point they were interrupted by a voice, "James! This must be the lovely Suri you've told me so much about...."

Ziva turned her head to see a man standing slightly to the left of them, she smiled in his direction; she imagined he was a few years older than Gibbs but like Gibbs the years had not detracted from his looks, glancing at his shoulders she could tell he was an admiral, "It is a pleasure to meet you Admiral."

He smiled and shook her hand, "Call me Jack..."

She nodded slightly, "Then it is a pleasure to meet you Jack..."

"Now do you think James would mind if I swept you away for a little dance?"

Ziva smiled and glanced towards Gibbs before looking back towards Jack, "I am sure he would not mind at all..."

She playfully blew Gibbs a kiss as Jack led her onto the dance floor, as they danced they casually talked about their evening so far, "You love him very much don't you..."

Ziva looked up a little surprised by the sudden change in direction the conversation had taken, "Of course, he is my husband..."

When Jack responded his voice was quieter, ensuring only she could hear his words, "I have known Jethro for a long time, we worked several investigations together, not long after he joined NIS as it was then... I have never seen him as happy as he is now, he clearly loves you so no matter what anyone says you keep doing whatever it is you're doing, it's nice to see him smiling."

She smiled and bowered her head, "Yes sir, thank you sir."

He laughed quietly, "I thought I told you to call me Jack."

She smiled, "Thank you Jack"

"You'd better get back to him; I think he's pining like a lost puppy..."

She laughed loudly as a smile lit up her face, "Gibbs does not pine and he most certainly does not do lost puppy..."

Jack shrugged slightly, "He's waiting for you..."

She looked between the two men, "Thank you again Jack..." With that she made her way back towards Gibbs, out of the corner of her eye she spotted Jenny making her way towards him. His attention was focused solely on her though as he made his way towards her, meeting her partway he wrapped his arms around her; she smiled "Jenny is behind you..."

He nodded in understanding before gently stroking her cheek, "You have fun with Jack?"

Her eyes widened slightly, "You could have mentioned the two of you knew each other..."

He shrugged slightly and gave her one of his half smiles, "Could have, but where's the fun in that?"

She rolled her eyes, "He told me not to worry about what anyone said and to keep doing whatever it is I am doing to keep you smiling... Who knows what he thinks I am doing to you..."

Gibbs laughed quietly and gently brushed her hair from her face, "I have no idea..."

She slowly slid her arms around his neck before whispering in his ear, "We're still being watched..."

He glanced down at her before he kissed her gently, "I think I've showed you off enough... It's getting late and we're supposed to be hosting dinner tomorrow... Let's go home..."

She nodded her consent and slipped her arms from around his neck, he gently took her hand as he led her from the ball, standing on the stone steps he pulled his cell from his pocket and made a phone call, turning back to Ziva he smiled, "Car should be here soon..."

Ziva nodded and shivered slightly, he slid his jacket from his shoulders and draped it over her shoulders before gently pulling her back to him and kissing her forehead, "You okay?"

She nodded, "I am fine..."

Gibbs was fairly certain she was anything but fine but before he had chance to question her further their car arrived, silently Ziva pulled out of his embrace and slipped into the back seat. Gibbs followed her into the car, sitting quietly beside her as the driver made his way out of the city. As the buildings began to thin Gibbs gently reached over sliding his hand into Ziva's; she looked up at him briefly and smiled but then turned her attention back to the passing landscape. She had began to brood over Jenny's comments and the longer she sat thinking about it the less it upset her and the more it simply made her angry; she knew the case had not suffered as a result of her relationship with Gibbs they had both been careful to ensure that that remained the case. She decided Jenny simply had no right to speak to her in that way and certainly no right to talk about Gibbs in such a way.

Arriving back at the house the pair of them made their way upstairs; Gibbs sat on the edge of the bed and began to remove his shoes as Ziva disappeared into the bathroom. He slipped his shoes off and slid them to one side; he was in the process of folding his jacket when Ziva reappeared in the bathroom doorway. She was dressed in a black silk and lace bra, matching hot pants and her high heeled shoes, her hair released from the clips that had held it in place all night now hung in loose curls around her face. Gibbs looked up at her in surprise, "Ziver?"

She slowly walked over to him, taking his jacket from him and tossing it to the side before standing over him. Tilting his head upwards she kissed him deeply as her fingers worked their way down his shirt, undoing the buttons before pushing it off his shoulders, it was only then that she pulled away from him breaking the kiss. She smirked slightly at the surprise evident on his face before pushing him back onto the bed, her hands running across his chest as she leant down to renew the kiss. She waited until she felt his arms travel around her waist before pulling away; a smirk crossing her face as she saw disappointment mix with the lust already in his eyes, "Middle of the bed..."

Gibbs quietly complied, the look in Ziva's eyes informing him that at least for now she needed to remain the dominant partner. She stepped from her heels and onto the bed, quickly moving to straddle him she leant down placing her hands either side of his shoulders to support her weight as she kissed him again. Her actions were rougher than previously and her lips crashed bruisingly into his, her hand moved to tightly encircle his arm and he gasped slightly as her nails began to bite into his flesh. She moved away and began tugging at his belt; he caught her hand, "Ziver...."

She looked up at him briefly before pulling her hand from his and renewing her attempts to remove his belt, once again he caught her hand, "Ziver you know we had an agreement... For the sake of the case."

She pulled free once again and kissed him, her anger apparent in the ferocity of her actions, "After what Jenny said to me tonight... Screw the case"

He gently stroked her cheek, "Ziver you are angry, don't do something you're going to regret in the morning..."

She kissed him again, "I have wanted this for months Jethro... There will be no regrets"

He returned the kiss but rolled away from her, "No Ziva."

She sighed and moved back over him, "Jethro for once do something you want to do, not the thing you think you should do."

She gently ran her hands across his chest as she slid down his body before capturing his hands and raising them above his head, pinning them to the bed as her lips met his, her tongue brushing against his lips as she forced her way into his mouth, roughly kissing him. This time any thoughts he had had about sticking to the rule vanished and when he pulled his hands from her grasp it was not to push her away but to pull her flush against him, his hand tangling in her hair as he began to match the fierceness of her kiss, rolling the pair of them over he broke this kiss, smiling as his eyes opened his hand brushed against her cheek as he placed brief kisses across her lips. He groaned slightly as her nails dug into his back, "Okay, you win..."

He dipped his head to her neck, roughly sucking on her skin and possessively marking her as his own, she moaned happily as her fingers found his belt and pulled it free, her hands making light work of his fly and she began to push his trousers down his legs. He pulled away from her just long enough to kick his trousers off, he didn't see where they landed as before they hit the ground Ziva was pulling him back towards her, her leg curling around his waist as she flipped him onto his back, roughly kissing his neck before turning her attention to his chest, her actions alternating between rough kisses and gentle bites, he moaned beneath her, "Ziver..."

She paused and looked up at him, "Don't tell me to stop..."

He glanced down at her, "What? No... Come here"

She slowly crawled back up his body, feeling satisfied as his strong arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her firmly in place above him as he kissed her, moving away for a second he murmured, "I love you"

She gasped as she was rolled onto her back, "I love you too"

He slid down her body pressing gentle kisses to her breasts before lightly sucking on her nipple through the lace of her bra; she arched her back allowing him the opportunity to unhook her bra, he slowly slid it from her shoulders and returned his attention to her breasts, smirking as she moaned beneath him. She ran her fingers through his hair as he trailed kisses across her body before gently pulling at it, smiling as it made him look up. He made his way back up her body, moaning as her lips reached his, her hand running up his back before snaking around his neck, sliding into his hair and holding him in place as her tongue battled his for dominance in the kiss. Her nails dug into his back as her body arched upwards to meet his and she was sure she could feel her lips begin to bruise as they continued to clash against his. Her nails dragged across his chest as he pulled away from her, he smiled before roughly pushing her back against the pillows, moving down her body his lips placed gentle, fluttering kisses across the inside of her thighs. She felt the muscles in her stomach muscle flutter as her arousal grew with each kiss. Her hips bucked involuntarily as he continued to lavish his attention across her inner thighs. She gasped his name as her hands slid into his hair and she attempted to direct him to the area she wanted him most of all but he continued to avoid it. Finally he gave in as a ragged please escaped from her lips, and allowed his lips to brush across the fine black lace. He smirked to himself as a moan rumbled in the back of her throat and swept his tongue across her, pressing slightly deeper but the lace still acting as a barrier between him and her. Somewhere deep in her subconscious she realised how close to her dream the current situation was; and then her hips bucked involuntarily once more and his nose grazed against her overly sensitive clitoris. Her nails dug deeply into his shoulders as she screamed "Jethro!"

She quickly pulled him back to her and kissed him once more as her hands fumbled with the waistband of his boxers beginning to push them down his legs. He reached down and gently moved her hands away, moving from her briefly he slid them off before moving back to her as she wriggled out of her panties. He paused as he moved back towards her and she reached forward sliding her arm around him and pulling him back to her, gently kissing him, "This is what I want Jethro..."

He smiled and kissed her, "I know, I want it too..." His hand brushed gently into her hair and once again he lowered her back onto the bed gently kissing her as her hands travelled around him, slowly running up and over his shoulder blades as she gently wrapped her leg around him guiding him into her. He placed his hand on the bed to take his weight as he slowly slid deeper into her, she quietly moaned as his lips brushed across her neck and he continued his assault on her senses.

He moaned as he felt her body slide against his and she gasped, "Harder..."

He willingly complied, his thrusts becoming harder as she began to move her hips up to meet him, her hand guiding his head upwards allowing her to roughly kiss him. She felt her muscles begin to flutter as she neared climax, and he gasped as he felt her muscles tense around him. His movements became more irregular as he neared his own climax, he was aware of the fact she had pulled out of the kiss and was quietly groaning. He was also aware of her nails digging into his flesh. He was aware of her muscles contracting around him and her screaming his name and then he was aware of nothing but pleasure as his own release reached him.

He slipped out of her and rolled onto his back breathing deeply he glanced over at her and found her watching him, a smile beginning to form on her face. She began to giggle and he smiled, "What's so funny?"

She rolled into him gently kissing him before resting her head on his chest, "I just slept with the boss..."

He laughed slightly, and stroked her hair, "Several people will be very disappointed, the office money was on you and DiNozzo getting together..."

She laughed again, "Nothing gets past you..."

He smiled, "Not much..." He gently kissed the top of her head, as her breathing shallowed, looking down he noticed her eyes had closed and she had begun to sleep. Carefully reaching down he pulled up the comforter to cover them, before loosely wrapping his arms around her as he slowly joined her in sleep.


	14. Unexpected Guests

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**A/N:** I can't believe this as taken so long to update, for that I apologise, I've had a nightmare with my laptop and it had to be sent away to be fixed which took them 3 weeks, anyway it's back now and this should be updated more frequently again. Thank you for continuing to read and all the lovely comments you leave.

* * *

Ziva stirred a smile still on her face from the night before, she rolled over expecting to find Gibbs still asleep next to her, instead she found the bed empty. Glancing sleepily around the room she found it had been tidied, his uniform was no longer strewn across the floor, instead it was neatly folded on a chair waiting to be sent to the dry cleaners.

She slipped from the bed, wrapping the sheet around herself as she crossed to her closet, picking out matching lingerie she dropped the sheet and slid into them; walking back into the bedroom she quickly remade their bed, before heading into the bathroom. She spotted one of his t-shirts lying on top of the washing hamper, picking it up she slid it over her head, smiling at the fact it smelt of coffee and sawdust and something unidentifiable and yet so distinctly him.

Padding down the stairs she spotted him sitting at the kitchen table, dressed simply in jeans and a sweatshirt, his glasses were perched on the end of his nose as he read the paper that was spread on the table in front of him, the coffee in his mug filled the room with its rich aroma and she paused in the doorway, leaning silently against the doorframe just watching him for a while before she spoke, "Good morning..."

He looked up from his paper and smiled as he spotted her, "Good morning" He lifted his hand to remove his glasses.

"Oh they suit you... Leave them on..." She left her position in the doorway and began to cross the kitchen towards him, "You look like a hot college professor, you know the type that all the freshman secretly fancy but do not understand why because you are old enough to be their father..."

He laughed slightly, "Are you calling me old Ziva?"

She grinned as she slid her leg over him and came to rest straddling his lap; loosely wrapping her arms around his neck she gently kissed him, "I am saying it is fortunate I am far too old to be considered a freshman..."

He laughed and kissed her, "You're still young enough to be my daughter..."

She shrugged, "Do you think that bothers me?" she slid her hand into his hair, pulling him towards her as she dipped her head and slowly kissed him, her tongue sliding into his mouth and gently caressing his own, pulling away she rested her forehead on his.

He smiled, "I'm going to guess no... What is your father going to think?"

She sighed and leant back resting her hands on his shoulder, pausing for a moment to think before looking into his eyes, "My entire life has been spent pleasing my father, following the path he has set out for my life... Now it is my turn to make the decisions. I want to decide who I want in my life, who I want to marry, who I want to make my family with and I want you..."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her pulling her back against him, "I love you..."

She smiled, "I love you too..." She laughed slightly as his hand travelled into her hair pulling her down to him, her eyes closing as his lips met hers, kissing her deeply his hand playing with the hemline of her t-shirt. She moaned as his fingers brushed across the small of her back and he broke away from the kiss, pushing her back against the table and sliding the t-shirt up her body he dropped his head gently placing kisses across her torso, slowly moving up towards the bottom of her breasts as she moaned contentedly.

She sighed in frustration as the doorbell rang and he pulled away; she sat upright and leaned into him, "Just ignore it, maybe they will go away..." she kissed him again shifting slightly on his lap and turning her attention to his neck she reached into his hair, tilting his head back to give herself better access she began gently sucking at his skin, pulling away as she heard the doorbell ring for the second time, closely followed by several loud knocks, she sighed and gently kissed the end of his nose before removing herself from his lap, "Don't move, I'll get rid of them and then we can continue where we left off..."

She smoothed her t-shirt down and began to cross the kitchen when she heard him call her name, turning round she looked at him questioningly and he gently touched his neck and she realised the mark he had left on her neck the night before was clear for anyone to see, she shifted the neckline of her t-shirt slightly to cover it and looked to him again, he nodded and she smiled in response before turning and walking through to the hall. Opening the front door a crack she hid behind it, simply poking her head around to see who was outside, to her surprise she found Tony standing on the doorstep, she hissed at him, "What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her, "I just came to spend a little time with two friends... Aren't you going to invite me in?" With that he pushed past her and into the hallway, he turned to face her. "Nice t-shirt Zee-vah... Where's the boss man?"

She pushed the door closed before turning and calling through to the kitchen, "James we have a visitor..."

She stood behind Tony looking thoroughly frustrated as Gibbs appeared from the kitchen, "DiNozzo what are you doing here?"

"Well boss you didn't seem so happy when you left last night so I thought I'd make sure you were both okay..."

Gibbs arched an eyebrow, "You thought you'd just ruin the case for us?"

Tony stuttered, "What? No boss..."

"You didn't stop to think that someone might wonder what an NCIS special agent was doing at the house this early on a Sunday morning?" Gibbs leant back against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and his displeasure apparent.

Tony looked a little uncomfortable, "No one saw me boss..."

Ziva turned to him, "Tony this is a quiet neighbourhood and you were hammering on the door at nine AM... I think you wanted someone to see you... I think you want this to go wrong..."

"Of course that's not what I want!"

Her eyes flashed with anger as she turned to him, "I think that's exactly what you want, I think you are jealous Tony... What is it? Do you wish you were playing my husband instead? Did it not last long enough for you the last time? Is this what you want Tony?" she leant into him kissing him deeply before pushing him away, "Happy now?"

With that she turned away, storming out towards the kitchen, Tony moved to follow her but Gibbs stepped forward blocking his path, "I think you've done enough DiNozzo... Go back to Washington."

He watched him leave before heading into the kitchen, Ziva was standing at the sink splashing water onto her face, Gibbs picked up a towel and crossed to her, letting her dry her face before pulling her into a hug. She clung to him, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I don't know why I did..."

He held her at arms length as he brushed her hair behind her ear, "You were angry... you acted impulsively, it's understandable..."

She took a deep breath, "Do you forgive me?"

He sighed, "Zee there's nothing to forgive..." She looked up into his eyes and found no anger in them at all, just concern. He smiled slightly at her, "I love you..."

"I love you too..." She reached up and gently kissed him, smiling for the first time as she felt his arms wrap reassuringly around her waist. She paused in his embrace for a moment before pulling away, "What did I do to deserve you?"

He smiled, "Y'know I'm always asking myself what a gruff old man like me did to get some like you to fall in love with me."

She gently stroked his cheek, "Well you were grumpy, irritable..." She grinned at the look on his face, "Loyal and the first person who treated me as a person and not just an asset. You convinced me I was worth something as me and not just for my abilities as a killer..." she smiled and gently kissed him, "Like it or not you are not as much of a bastard as you like to make people think you are... Now I have a meal to prepare, so I am going to shower and begin, you can stay out of my way in the workshop..."

He smiled and gently kissed her, "Yes miss..."

Ziva laughed and pushed him away, swiping at his retreating back with the towel before heading upstairs and quickly showering. Her thoughts focused entirely on the man she was so completely in love with as the warm water ran over her body, incredibly relieved he had been so understanding of her rash actions. Stepping out of the shower she moved to the wardrobe and picked out her outfit for the evening; after dressing she made her way back to the kitchen and was standing at the counter preparing vegetables when he reappeared, approaching her from behind he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and leant down gently placing kisses across the exposed skin of her neck, "Anything I can do to help?"

She nodded slightly, "You can stop distracting me before I add my fingers to this pile of vegetables..."

He laughed slightly and moved away, smiling as she put the knife down and moved towards him, her hand reaching up and stroking his cheek as she pressed her lips to his, her other hand grabbed a section of his sweatshirt and pulled him closer to her. He smiled as she pulled out of the kiss and wrapped her arms around him resting her head on his chest, "Mmm... You smell good..."

He laughed, "I smell of sawdust..."

She nodded and kissed his chest through his shirt, "Sawdust, coffee and maybe a little bourbon..."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, she looked up at him slowly wrapping her arms around his neck, "I love the way you smell. It's unique and I find it... comforting. I like the fact I can walk into a coffee shop and the smell makes me think of you... makes me smile."

He leant down and kissed her before easily lifting her onto the end of the counter and moving to stand between her legs, "I think all this playing husband and wife is making you soft..."

At once he felt her stiffen in his arms, "You loved Shannon whilst you were a sniper... Why can't I love you and still be able to function fully without 'going soft'. Because I am a woman?"

He smiled at the flash of anger in her eyes, "I'm teasing Zee... For the record I love the way you smell..."

She pouted slightly, "You are just saying that."

He leant forward and kissed her deeply, resting his forehead on hers as he pulled away, "If I were just saying that would I know that you smell of French Vanilla, Blackberry Honey and the slightest trace of gunpowder..."

He moved away slightly and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth despite her best efforts to keep a frown on her face, "I suppose not..."

He smiled and kissed her again, "We both have sides we keep hidden from the rest of the world..."

She smiled pulling him back towards her, "Perhaps that is why you and I work so well together..."

She closed her eyes as she rested her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart and drinking in his smell as he wrapped his arms around her. Their peace was broken as the doorbell rang and Gibbs pulled away, "I'll go and see who it is..."

Ziva nodded and hopped down off the counter turning her attention back to vegetables as he made his way through the house and opened the front door. He was unable to hide his surprise at the person he found standing on the doorstep, "Hollis..."

The blonde turned to him and smiled, "Hello Jethro..."

He frowned and ushered her inside, "I'm undercover... What are you doing here?"

She wandered casually through to the living room and turned waiting for him to follow her, "I'm in Washington for a few days, I popped into NCIS and Special Agent DiNozzo gave me this address, he thought I might like to see you..."

"I bet he did..." Gibbs murmured under his breath before raising his voice to a level that would allow her to hear him, "I think you'd better leave..."

She was barely able to conceal the hurt in her eyes as she took a step towards him, "I've only just got here Jethro, I've missed you..."

He took a step away from her, keeping the distance between them, "I can't say the same..."

Meanwhile Ziva had begun to wonder what was taking Gibbs so long, she quietly left the kitchen and followed the sound of voices; she smiled slightly as she spotted Gibbs standing in the living room, "James, is there a problem?" She stepped into the room and for the first time spotted the familiar figure standing in front of him, her eyes narrowed slightly as she tensed, "Hollis... What a pleasant surprise."

Gibbs turned to her and at once spotted the vegetable knife she had absent-mindedly carried with her from the kitchen, he noted her knuckles begin to whiten as her grip on it tightened as Hollis continued to speak to him, ignoring her he crossed to Ziva, putting a hand on each shoulder as he gently kissed her forehead, before lightly running them down her arms until he reached her hands, gently loosening her grip on the knife he removed it from her hand and placed it on the coffee table, "Lt. Colonel Mann was just leaving..." He took a step towards her, "Weren't you..."

Hollis looked coolly between the pair of them, "The rumours are true then... You and her..."

"I don't think that's any of your business."

She fixed her attention on Gibbs, "It's a shame, I never had you down as some sort of cradle snatcher. You realise you'll just spend your life waiting for her to get bored of you and run off with someone her own age, you'd be much better off with me..."

Ziva gave her a look that would have turned most to stone, "How dare you..."

Hollis tossed a quick glance in her direction before turning her attention back to Gibbs, "You know it's true, what we shared..."

At that Ziva launched herself at her, seeing it coming Gibbs sprang into action and reached out grabbing her, the force of stopping her sending the pair of them spinning around. As they stopped turning Ziva wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and looked down at him before leaning down and kissing him, her arms travelling around his neck as her tongue slid into his mouth as she slowly kissed him. After a few moments he pulled away looking slightly amused, "Feeling better?"

She smiled, "A little..."

She leant down to kiss him again but he leant back slightly arching an eyebrow, "Don't push your luck..."

She laughed, "Sorry boss..."

He smiled as he released her from his grip, "It's about time you remembered that..."

She laughed quietly and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning into him as she turned to Hollis, "We have guests coming for dinner, I think it really is time for you to go now..."

Hollis looked at the pair of them and saw the way he was relaxed in her embrace, his arms casually draped around her. The two of them were comfortable with each other in a way that they never had been and she noticed there was something in his eyes when he looked at Ziva that he had never had when he looked at her. She nodded, "I'll see myself out..."

Gibbs waited to hear the door close before looking down at Ziva, "Was that a little bit of jealousy I sensed sweetheart?"

She looked up at him and rolled her eyes, "You don't have to sound quite so pleased about it."

He smiled as he leant down and kissed her, "Nice to know you care..."

She rolled her eyes once again, "Of course I care... Now go and have a shower, our guests will be here in half an hour..."

Half an hour later Gibbs was finishing setting the table in the dining room when the doorbell rang, he turned towards the kitchen and smiled as he saw Ziva looking so at home surrounded by pots and pans, "I'll get it..."

She looked up at him and smiled as she nodded, "Thank you"

Walking through the house he answered the door to their guests and smiled, "Come in, Suri's just finishing in the kitchen..."

He showed them through to the living room as Ziva joined them, gently wrapping her arms around him from behind and kissing his back before stepping in front of him and greeting their friends. "Dinner will be ready shortly, James could you help me in the kitchen..."

He smiled, "Sure." He followed her out into the kitchen and watched as she worked her magic, pulling dishes from the oven and arranging things on serving plates, he moved to stand behind her and gently kissed her neck, "You're very good at this y'know..."

She turned round smirking and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Don't think I'm cooking like this every night once we're actually married, not with the hours my slave driver of a boss makes me work..."

He smirked in response, "Yeah I hear he's a right piece of work."

"He is quite hot though, some say it is his only redeeming feature..."

He smiled, "Only quite hot?"

She tilted her head as she looked at him, "Okay so he is very, very, very hot..." As she spoke she punctuated each very with a lingering kiss.

He laughed in response, "I love you..."

"I love you too..." She playfully pushed him away and picked up two serving dishes, "now take this through."

He smiled taking the dishes from her and carrying them through to the dining room.

Dinner was a relaxed affair and the conversation flowed easily until Adam turned to Gibbs, "So James you have a boat if I remember rightly..."

Gibbs nodded as he swallowed his mouthful, "I do, down in the Keys..."

Adam smiled, "Then perhaps you could give us some advice, we're thinking of buying one."

"Sure... I built mine but I know a thing of two about the market, they're not cheap..."

Adam nodded, "We know, but I had an old aunt die recently, I'm her only living relative so she left me a fair amount of money and with the way the economy is at the moment there doesn't seem to be much point in investing in shares or anything so we figured we may as well treat ourselves. We're thinking of splitting the cost with Dave, get something really nice y'know..."

Gibbs smiled slightly, "Well if you see something you like let me know and I'll give it a look... What you thinking of spending?"

Adam shrugged, "I dunno, between us maybe a million, a little bit more, my aunt left me quite a lot..."

At that point the sound of the phone ringing in the hallway filled the room, Ziva rose from her seat, "Excuse me, I should answer that..."

With that she disappeared from the room, smiling on her return fifteen minutes later and taking her seat, "Sorry that was my mother, she is impossible to get off the phone."

Sally smiled, "So your family have no issues... With the age gap..."

"Oh no! Not at all, my parents are not together anymore and my mother quite frequently informs me that if it were not for the fact I found him first she would have quite willingly married him, it is rather embarrassing actually..." She smiled as Gibbs reached over and squeezed her hand.

After finishing the meal the group moved through to the living room, Ziva curled up against Gibbs on the sofa as the conversation continued well into the night. Ziva and Gibbs saw their friends out together, his arm gently draped around her waist as she watched them walk down the driveway, waving as they reached the bottom she pushed the front door closed and yawned, "Time for bed I think..."

With that she began to walk towards the stairs, stopping in her tracks as Gibbs caught her hand before pulling her back to him, "Calling for an update on the possibility of grandchildren was she... Your mother?"

Ziva rolled her eyes, "Okay so I called the house phone from my mobile, I wanted the chance to call McGee from the office. He looked into the records, neither Adam nor Dave have received inheritances from aunts or anybody else in the past year, and he can't find any accounts in either of their names that contains that sort of money, even when you combine all the savings we can find it only totals around $300,000. He is going to dig deeper but if they do have that sort of money somewhere it's not in their names and they're lying about where they got it from."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully as he took in the information she was telling him, "So Adam and Dave just put themselves at the top of our suspect list..."

Ziva nodded, "Maybe we'll be out of here sooner rather than later..."


	15. Surprising News

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**  
**

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The early June sun rose slowly into the cloudless sky, spilling through the window and gently bathing the sleeping couple in its golden glow.

Ziva stirred, slowly waking from a peaceful night's sleep. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight before looking around the room that had become so familiar to them, in this house that was slowly becoming their home. Yes part of her hated the fact they were still working the case three months after their supposed breakthrough, she wanted to get back to doing what she did best and yes she hated the fact that the Sec-Nav had stepped in and forbidden them from returning to their day jobs in the belief that their sudden disappearance would alert the men to the investigation. But part of her also thanked him, here she could be with the man she loved every night, and whilst she didn't like the fact they were forced to keep their real relationship a secret she knew the longer they were in this house the longer she could put off the awkward questions that would come with their release back into the real world, would Jethro want to live with her? Would he be willing to let her into the home he shared with Shannon?

She turned her attention back to the man still sleeping beneath her. She gently raised herself from his chest and slid down onto the bed beside him, she gently ran her hand across his torso, lightly pressing a kiss to his chest before moving her hand to gently stroke his cheek, her eyes sweeping over his face, taking in how calm and at peace he looked when asleep, the worry lines that often marked his face were gone making him appear years younger.

She reached upwards and lightly kissed his lips, the fleeting contact enough to wake him. She watched as he blinked several times, his eyes slowly adjusting to the daylight before he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back towards him, gently kissing her as his eyes fixed on her face as a smile crossed his own, "Good morning..."

"Good morning..." She smiled as she dipped her head once again, lightly pressing her lips to his as she slid her leg over his hips and positioned herself above him, her hands supporting her weight either side of him as she looked down into his eyes, "Sleep well?"

He nodded as he reached up, running his hand through her soft hair before tucking a stray lock behind her ear, "But you made sure of that.... Did you?"

She looked down at him, "Sleep well? Yes... You are very comfortable..." She smiled as he laughed and then gently kissed him, "I love it when you smile."

He laughed again, "Well you give me a lot to smile about..." He gently rolled the pair of them over and leant down to kiss her, his lips fluttering briefly across her own before he gently kissed the tip of her nose, "I love you..."

"I love you too..." her smile widened as she gently looped her arms around his neck, slowly pulling him back towards her, her lips pressing against his as her hands travelled down his back, holding him flush to her as her tongue slipped into his mouth, lazily tangling with his as they simply enjoyed being with one another.

Suddenly she pushed him away, "I'm sorry, I think I am going to be..." Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she slid out from beneath him and leapt from the bed, running into the bathroom she flung herself on the floor, bracing herself by resting her hands on the toilet seat she was sick. As she urged for the second time he appeared behind her, gently pulling her hair back, holding it out of her way and rubbing the small of her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture as he continued to be sick.

Finally she stopped urging and he stepped back as she slowly stood. She leaned forward flushing the toilet as he crossed to the sink and poured her a glass of water, he held it out to her and she slowly moved towards him, taking it in her hands and slowly sipping it as he carefully wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against his chest. He looked down at her clearly concerned by her pale complexion; he gently kissed her forehead, "Ziva that's the third time this week, you need to see a doctor..."

She nodded slightly as she took another sip of water. He looked down at her, fixing his eyes on hers, "Promise me Ziver... I'm worried about you..."

She smiled slightly and stroked his cheek, "Don't be silly, it is probably just a bug I picked up at the office but I will make an appointment for this afternoon, I promise..."

He smiled and gently kissed her forehead, "Thank you it will put my silly old mind at ease..."

At that she rolled her eyes and realising that time was swiftly passing by he released her from his grasp and watched as she crossed the bathroom to shower.

Thirty minutes later the couple were both dressed and making their way from the kitchen, both sipping on their coffee as they headed towards the front door. Pausing by the hood of her car he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers and moaning quietly as he felt her tongue slide over his lips and into his mouth, gently brushing against his own. Pulling away he looked down at her as a satisfied grin crossed her face, she subconsciously chewed her bottom lips as she looked up at him, it was one of her many traits he found endearing, not that he would ever admit that to another living soul, "I love you Leroy Jethro Gibbs" she murmured just loud enough for him to hear.

He smiled leaning down so his lips brushed against her earlobe as he spoke, "And I love you Ziva David..." he reluctantly pulled away from her, opening her car door and watching as she slipped into her seat, "Call me when you get out of the doctor's office..."

She nodded and he pushed her door shut, leaning against the hood of his car as he watched her pull out of the drive before slipping into the car and heading for his office.

* * *

That evening he pulled into the driveway to find Ziva's car already there, this surprised him, the fact he hadn't heard from her had led him to assume she was running late at the doctors, mentally he head slapped himself, growling quietly to no one in particular, "Never assume, it's a rookie mistake."

At that thought his mind went into overdrive, for Ziva not to call him it must be more serious than either of them had anticipated. He hurried out of the car, swiftly making his way to the front door, calling out her name as he stepped into the house, he placed his coat and keys on the table and followed the noise up the stairs he was surprised to find her in the gym. She had obviously been working out for some time, her body glistened with sweat, her hair hung limply behind her, her t shirt clung tightly to her body and her hands were tightly wrapped as she attacked the heavy bag hanging in the corner.

He paused in the doorway, leaning on the doorjamb and watching as she continued to throw punches at the bag, growing more and more concerned he stepped into the room, "Zee... is everything okay? Did something happen at the doctors?"

She looked briefly towards him before returning her attention to the bag, barely even noticing him move to stand behind the bag, supporting it as she continued to rain punched on it, "It only happened once, it is not supposed to happen if you only do it once, well I know technically it can but it was not supposed to... I was never meant to end up pregnant..."

If Ziva had been paying attention she would have seen Gibbs freeze with the shock clearly written all over his face, as it was she wasn't and she didn't. Instead her foot connected with the bag with such force it flew into Gibbs's abdomen, sending him crashing to the floor. It was the thud of him hitting the mat that brought her out of her own headspace; she quickly grabbed the bag stilling it before crouching beside him, moving onto her knees she brought his head into her lap gently stroking his cheek, "Jethro I am so sorry..."

Gibbs shook his head slightly as he cleared his mind, "Ziva did you say you were pregnant?"

Ziva stood, ignoring the quiet curse that came from his mouth as his head hit the ground for the second time in as many minute, moving over to the window she wrapped her arms around herself as she stared out over the garden, "I know we have not discussed this, and after everything you went through with Kelly I do not know if you want another child, I would not blame you if you did not, but I cannot give up this baby Jethro, I have lost too many to be able to do that, Tali, Jenny, Ari... I know you think he was a monster but he was once my big brother, he looked out for me and I worshipped him... but I cannot lose you either... I do not think I could do this alone..." she paused furiously wiping her tears away, "Stupid hormones..."

The next think she knew two strong arms were wrapped around her as he gently turned her to face him, "You don't have to do this alone... you agreed to marry me, that's a verbal contract and I intend to hold you to it..."

He smiled as he noticed the corner of her mouth lift slightly, "What about the baby?"

He placed his hand above hers on her stomach, "I will love our baby just like I loved Kelly... Like I still love Kelly..."

She looked up into his eyes and found nothing but honesty and love in them, the last of the walls he had built around his heart seemed to have vanished with the news she had given him, "What is Jenny going to say? We are undercover, I was not meant to fall in love with you, I was not meant to sleep with you and I certainly was not meant to end up pregnant..."

He gently kissed her, "You leave Jen to me..." she looked at him and he could see the doubt in her eyes, "It'll be okay, I'll admit the timing isn't perfect and I'll admit that I never considered becoming a parent again before you, and even then I wasn't sure, but when you told me you were.... well I wouldn't change it."

He pulled her back towards him as his irresistible lopsided grin crossed his face, Ziva could swear she could actually feel the tension and the worry flow out of her as he took her in his arms and a smile soon appeared on her face as she felt his lips gently kissing her neck. She moaned as she tilted her head, using a hand she pulled her hair away giving him complete access to her neck and she purred in pleasure as his lips moved up to her ear and down her jaw line before finally reaching her lips. She slid her arms around him, holding him tightly to her as she slowly lost herself in the kiss, something about it was different, nothing obvious, nothing she could pick out but something was different and it wasn't until they separated and she looked into his eyes she realised what it was, it was there in his eyes, the amount of love they had for one another had somehow increased with the news she was carrying their child, although if you'd asked either of them twenty-four hours previously both would have denied it was possible.

She couldn't help but grin as he looked down at her, a smile clear on his own face, she quickly pulled herself out of his embrace and instead took his hand leading him from the room and into their bedroom where she guided him to the bed, "Sit...."

She watched as he followed her command before she moved to her handbag and began searching through it, as her hand found what she was looking for she glanced back over her shoulder, "Close your eyes..." she shook her head slightly as he opened his mouth to protest, "Just do it Jethro..."

He slowly closed his eyes and she withdrew her hand from her bag bringing the item with her as she crossed back to the bed, settling herself on his lap she smiled as his hands travelled around her, she gently kissed his nose, "You can open your eyes now..."

He did so and looked down at her smiling as he wondered why she had had him close his eyes and then he spotted the small paper folder in her lap, slowly she opened it and traced her finger over the small black and white print out. Gibbs smiled as his eyes landed on the details in the corner, "Baby Gibbs..."

She nodded, "What were you expecting?" He shrugged slightly and she snuggled in closer to him, "It makes sense for the baby to have the same name as his or her father... After all I intend to have it as soon as we finish here..."

"You do?"

She frowned slightly in response, "You do not want to marry me? I am confused, earlier you were saying you were holding me to our agreement..."

He slid his arms around her, resting them on her abdomen, "Of course I want to marry you, I just assumed you would keep your name..."

"You do not want me to be a Gibbs?"

"Of course I do, I want everyone to know you're mine..."

She smirked and pushed him back on the bed before moving over him, "I am yours am I? You think I am some sort of possession you can trade?"

He looked up at her slightly concerned by her tone of voice and the position of her hands, "Ziver..."

She laughed and kissed him, "I love it when you get worried about what I am going to do to you..." she took his hands and wrapped them around her waist, "If I am going to belong to anyone you seem to be a good one to belong to... I love you..." she rolled off him, instead curling into his side, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head in the crook of his neck.

He gently kissed her forehead, "I love you too... Both of you..." he looked down and quietly laughed to himself as he found she had already fallen asleep.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay so yes that was a little predictable but what is a girl to do... Also those who are desperate for them to get back to real life don't flame me just yet! Just give me another few chapters :p


	16. Revelations

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's Note: **Wow so it's been ages, far longer than I ever intended but I hope you'll be able to get back into it :)

* * *

Ziva smiled to herself as she smoothed the silk of her shirt down over the swell of her abdomen, her figure now beginning to show the life growing inside her. Her smile widened as she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. She turned in his embrace and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss, "Morning you…"

Her lover smiled back as he gently kissed her neck, "Morning…" He slipped his hand lower, gently caressing her stomach, "I'm going to speak to Jen today, I don't think we can hide it much longer…"

Ziva nodded in agreement, her hand moving to cover his, "I can meet you at lunchtime…"

Gibbs shook his head, "It's probably best I do it alone, you don't need to be there, the stress isn't good for you…"

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, "We are in this together Jethro, you should not have to do this alone…"

He kissed the top of her head, "It's fine Zee, I'll talk to her during lunch and I'll see you tonight…" He moved away slightly, holding her at arm's length until her saw her nod in agreement, then he pulled her back towards him, wrapping her arms tightly around her, his hand moving up into the dark waves of her hair as his tongue slipped inside her mouth, caressing her own as she moaned into his mouth. Eventually breaking the kiss he rested his forehead against hers, "It'll be okay, I promise… I love you"

She nodded, "I love you too…" She watched as he left the dressing room, waiting until she heard his car pulling out of the driveway before moving to the vanity and pulling her hair into a loose top knot, grabbing her purse and jacket and taking her own car into the centre of Washington.

* * *

DiNozzo and McGee barely looked up as Gibbs strode through the bullpen, carrying on with the reports they were working on before remembering that Gibbs was still undercover and as such his passing through the bullpen was no longer the norm. Both looked up from their paperwork to see him taking the last of the stairs two at a time. Walking into the director's outer office he spared Cynthia a glance before walking into the main office, he waiting for Jenny to look up from her paperwork before crossing the room and standing in front of her desk.

Jenny took a sip of her water before putting the glass down and taking her glasses off, resting them on top of her paperwork, she gently rubbed the bridge of her nose before putting her elbows on her desk and resting her chin on her hands, "What brings you barging into my office unannounced Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs lowered himself into the chair opposite her and sighed, "There's something I need to tell you before you hear it from somebody else…"

She sighed, "I'm assuming this is not exactly case related…"

Jethro nodded, "Ziva is pregnant, it was an accident but we are keeping our child, the case will remain unaffected…"

Jen slammed her palm down on the desk, "Like hell it will Jethro! Of all the stupid irresponsible things! I expected better from you with all your rules, your stupid moral code, was it too much to ask that you keep it in your pants and concentrate on the damn case?"

Gibbs stood suddenly, his chair flying backwards due to the sudden movement, anger was clear in his eyes, which had turned an icy blue as he stared down at her, "The relationship between Ziva and I is none of your business, we will work this case until its conclusion. As we are playing a married couple Ziva's pregnancy is unlikely to break the cover…"

With that he turned and strode from the room, narrowly missing Ziva as she stepped from the elevator. She turned towards him, calling his name as he hit the down button in the elevator, watching the doors slide shut she turned back towards the bullpen, crossing towards her old desk she stopped in front of McGee. Smiling fondly as she looked down at him she asked, "Any idea what happened?"

McGee shook his head, "The boss just came in and went straight up to the Director's office, five minutes later he came storming down the stairs and into the lift, I don't know Ziva, he hasn't looked that angry since the whole Pin Pin Pula, Cape Fear incident, and you know what happened then…"

McGee trailed off not needing to remind her that he had left the agency and moved to Mexico. Ziva nodded in understanding before heading for the stairs, walking into the office she didn't even look at Cynthia as she stormed into the Director's office. Allowing the door to slam behind her she crossed to the desk, leaning over it she addressed the director in a voice so low it resembled a hiss, "What did you say to him?"

Jenny looked coolly up at her, "He told me about your little problem, I simply pointed out I thought he was more professional than that…"

Ziva glared as she pulled herself upright, her hand resting protectively over her abdomen, "Our child is not a problem… You lost him Jen, it was your own fault, but he's happy now and if you love him as much as I think you do you should be happy that he's happy…" She turned and walked away before stopping at the door and looking back towards Jen. "After all you wouldn't want to lose the best team leader the agency has would you…"

With that Ziva exited the room, walking quickly down the stairs she smiled reassuringly at McGee as she passed him and stepped into the elevator as it arrived back on that floor. Exiting the building she saw Gibbs waiting, leaning against the hood of her car, his arms folded across his chest, he stood as she approached, "I thought I told you I'd do this myself…"

Ziva nodded as she closed the space between them, "I know, but I couldn't let you, just as well I came no?"

Gibbs sighed and reached for her, suddenly pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms around her as he kissed her, neither of them noticed the small group watching them from the window above.

Ziva pulled away looking slightly flushed, "Jethro! What was that all about?"

He smirked slightly in response, "Just doing what I wanted to do, not what I was supposed to do…"

She smiled slightly, "Aren't you worried they might see…"

Gibbs glanced up in the general direction of the bullpen and could just about make out 3 silhouettes in the window, "Wanna bet that's DiNozzo, McGee and Abby up in the window?"

Ziva turned her head to look but Jethro reached up, gently cupping her cheek and turning her head back towards him before pulling her into another kiss.

* * *

Meanwhile in the bullpen their three teammates were looking down at the scene before them in shock, Abby turned to McGee, "Wow, better not let the director see that…"

"Better not let the director see what Abby?" Came a voice from behind her.

Abby turned to the redhead, whilst ensuring her body remained between the director and the window, "Nothing Director, ma'am…"

Tony moved away from the window looking pointedly in Jenny's direction, "That look like they're just playing a role Madame director?"

Jenny sighed as she looked out of the window and saw Jethro still with his arms around Ziva's waist, "No it doesn't Agent Dinozzo…"

If Tony was surprised that the director hadn't put up more of an argument he didn't show it, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing, she is carrying his child, I can't compete with that…"

Abby looked at her in surprise, "Ziva and Gibbs are having a baby?"

"Apparently so" replied the director before turning away from the window and crossing the bullpen to walk back up to her office.

* * *

Later that evening Ziva was curled up next to Jethro, his arms resting on her abdomen, the bump much more obvious in the fitted tank she was wearing when there was a knock at the door.

Ziva uncurled his arms from around him and stood, quickly heading out into the hall to open the door, "McGee, Abby? What are you doing here?"

Abby quickly stepped inside, practically bouncing in excitement, "Jenny told us about the baby, is it true?"

Ziva closed the front door and turned just in time to see Gibbs stride out into the hall, "Jenny told you what? She had no right; it is our own personal business."

Ziva quickly crossed to him and wrapped her arms around him, gently kissing him to try and calm him down, "It's not Abby's fault Jethro…"

Jethro nodded and looked to Tim, "What are you doing out here?"

Tim simply pointed to Abby, "She made me bring her… I didn't want to risk your cover so I hired a car, nothing to link it back to the agency…"

Jethro nodded his head and turned to Abby clearly waiting for an answer, "Well I figured the baby must have been what you spoke to Jenny about, and Tim said you were angry when you left…" She trailed off briefly wondering how to continue, "I guessed it didn't go well but we, Tim and I, we're your friends and we're happy for you! The baby of and assassin and a sniper is gonna be one cool kid isn't it Tim?"

McGee could only nod in response, Ziva was the first to react, stepping forward and pulling Abby into a hug in a move that surprised both of the men in the room, "Thank you Abby, it's good to know our baby will have her Aunty Abby and Uncle Tim…"

Abby beamed and looked at her, "It's a girl?"

Gibbs stepped forward and gently kissed Abby's cheek, in an unspoken thank you for her support, "It's just a feeling Abs…"

This caused her to smile even more, "Well of course it's going to be a girl then, you're Gibbs! The Gibbs gut is never wrong!"

Ziva laughed, "We were just about to order take out, will you stay for dinner?"

Tim began to make excuses, not wanting to impose on his boss, but Gibbs cut him off, "Stay for dinner Tim, it'll make a nice change to be Ziva and Jethro with friends rather than Suri and James…"

Tim nodded his agreement and the group of four made their way from the hallway and into the living room to begin what would be the first of many evening spent in one another's company.


	17. The Case Continues

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's Note: **Wow so it's been ages, far longer than I ever intended but I hope you'll be able to get back into it :)

* * *

Ziva stretched as she stood from the sofa, her t-shirt riding up, uncovering her bump as she arched her back to loosen her stiff muscles. Jethro smiled as he walked into the room and spotted her, three quick strides later he was alongside her, his hand caressing her stomach as he kissed her neck, "Did you have a relaxing afternoon?"

She moaned as his hand slipped further down her body, arching her back into his body, "It was… acceptable, I missed you… so I did some work on the case" She gestured to the laptop still resting on the sofa, "I've been speaking to Tim, he's been guiding me through some forensic accounting techniques, y'know ways of tracing money… Samantha said something to me yesterday that made me wonder… anyway I think I've found a link to the money… I think…"

"You think?"

"It's a little thin, it may not stand up in court but it is the closest link we have so far…"

Gibbs nodded and gestured to the laptop, "Show me…"

Ziva nodded and lowered herself back down to the sofa, lifting the laptop and patting the spot next to her, waiting for him to join her. As soon as he joined her on the sofa she leaned against him, curling into his side as she loaded the files she had saved to the laptop. "This shows $50,000, supposedly designated for protective gear, being transferred into this company's account. The company is a shell, it doesn't actually exist, the money is then moved through various accounts like before, but instead of getting lost in Brazil like before, I traced it into a bank account in West Virginia, one of the signatories on the account is a Jonathan Lewis, brother of Lieutenant Commander David Lewis…"

Jethro nodded, "Tim can pick him up in the morning and question him, maybe a deal will convince him to talk…"

Ziva nodded, closed the lid on the laptop and leaned forward placing it on the coffee table. She snuggled back against her lover, tucking her feet up underneath her, she reached her finger around him, using it to turn his face round she gently pressed her lips to his, "Until then there's really nothing we can do with the case, on the other hand my hormones are all over the place, and as you are the one to blame for my current circumstances I think that you should be the one to help me deal with the situation."

With that she eased herself onto her knees and straddled his lap, pulling her hair from its knot, she allowed it to fall down framing her face as she kissed him, her tongue sliding into his mouth as his hands reached up into her hair, twisting his fingers into her dark locks as he willingly responded to her advances.

Twisting his body around he manoeuvred them so he was lying on the sofa with her on top of him, his hands slid down her body, before coming to rest on her upper thighs, holding her in place about him. She smiled down at him, one hand brushing his fringe back from his face, gently kissing him she pushed herself backwards and slowly began to undo the buttons of his shirt. Sliding it down his forearms, she gestured for him to lean forwards, taking advantage of this movement to slide his shirt off his back and pull his undershirt over his head.

Smirking she leant down and kissed his bare chest, "Hmm the gym does wonderful things to men's chests…"

He smirked back, "Being pregnant does wonderful things to your chest…"

Her eyes widened, "Jethro!"

He laughed quietly, "I am a man… I notice these things." Leaning upwards he placed gentle kisses against the exposed skin of her breasts.

Sliding out from beneath her he reached down and scooped her up into his arms, holding her close to his chest as he cradled her body before walking out of the room, carrying her up the stairs to their master suite. Leaning down he gently placed her in the centre of the bed. Carefully moving over her he slowly slid her shirt up her body and over the bump. Gently placing his hand around it he leant down and brushed his lips across it, "She's growing fast…"

Ziva grinned up at him, her hand moving down to cover his, "She… or he is… we don't know it's a girl yet…"

Gibbs nodded, "I know, but I told you I have a feeling… Would you rather have a boy?"

Ziva shrugged, "I am having your child, that is all that matters to me… But if we were to have a son that wouldn't be so bad, a little L.J…"

Gibbs laughed, "Promise me you won't name our child LJ…"

Ziva shifted onto her side, resting on her elbow as she looked at him, "I suppose you have a better idea…"

Gibbs rolled onto his side mirroring her actions, "For a boy? No… But I was thinking for a girl, something Hebrew based like Naysa Mari…"

Ziva smiled as she leant over to kiss him, "A miracle of god…"

Gibbs nodded, "My second chance…"

Ziva smiled wider before pulling him on top of her and running her fingers through his hair. Her lips pressed against his as his arms supported his weight above her. She slipped her hands down his back before moving them around to find his belt buckle. Swiftly undoing the clasp she began to push his pants and boxers down his thighs.

Briefly standing from the bed he kicked his pants off before pulling Ziva from the bed and slowly stripping her. Placing kisses down her body as he exposed it. From where he had come to rest on his knees he looked up at her "You are so beautiful Zee…"

She smiled looking down at him, "I love you…" With that she gently tugged on his hair, pulling him to his feet.

Gibbs stood easily, lifting her off her feet and bracing her against the wall as her legs wrapped around his waist. Leaning backwards to allow for her expanding waistline she rested her hands on his shoulders smiling, "You're not going to be able to do that much longer Mr Gibbs…"

He laughed, "Then I will have to find some other way to keep you interested in me…"

She managed to manoeuvre herself into a position where she could reach to kiss him, "I will always be interested in you Jethro… You are stuck with me… I told you I'll be Mrs Gibbs as soon as this case is over…"

He kissed her neck as he slid inside her, "The sooner this is over the better then…"

Ziva moaned quietly as he moved insider her, her nails clawed at his back as his thrusts began to increase in pace, "I love you!"

He gasped as his movements became more jerky, moaning aloud as she came and her muscles clamped down around him triggering his own release. He gently lowered her to the ground, "I love you too…" taking her hand he led her back to their bed, sliding in next to her and holding her as they both fell asleep.

The following morning awoke first, stretching she rolled onto her side and began to gently trace her finger along her partner's profile. Laughing when his hand shot up and caught her own, bringing it to his lips and gently kissing her fingers, her eyes locked with the icy blue of his own and she smiled. "Morning…"

"Morning…" He rolled onto his side, resting on his elbow as he looked at her, "You want some breakfast?"

She nodded and watched as he slid from the bed, slipping into a pair of jogging bottoms and a navy sweatshirt, "I'll bring you something up…"

She shook her head, "I'll come down with you…" She quickly rose from the bed and pulled on what had become her favourite loungewear, a pair of boxers and an oversized T-shirt, both of which she had liberated from Jethro's closet in the past couple of months. She made her way over to where he was waiting, casually leaning against the doorpost and took his hand in hers, gently kissing him as she continued past him, gently pulling him with her as she spoke about what she wanted for breakfast that morning.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs it became obvious that something was happening in the street outside. Both of them slipped on a pair of shoes and made their way out of the house, reaching the bottom of the drive they spotted the NCIS truck parked just down the street, Ziva looked up at Gibbs, "They wouldn't bring the truck just to question a suspect, Tony and Tim would just bring the sedan…"

Gibbs nodded in agreement and then pointed out Samantha to Ziva, "Why don't you go and speak to Sam…"

Ziva began walking towards her, her reluctance to release Jethro's hand from her own necessitated his accompanying her on the short trip to their friend. Ziva smiled slightly when she reached her, a hand reaching out in comfort to the clearly distressed woman, "What's going on Sam?"

The blonde looked up at her brunette friend, "It's terrible Suri, I mean you know marrying a sailor that there's a certain level of risk involved... But you expect it to happen when they're away on tour, you don't expect it to happen here, I mean home is supposed to be safe isn't it…"

Ziva released Jethro's hand and took both of Sam's in her own, gently stroking her thumbs across the back of her hands in a calming gesture, "Calm down Sam, tell me what's happened…"

The blonde took a deep calming breath and began her explanation, "David is dead… Katherine found him when she got home this morning, the poor woman… You know she was away, her mother took a fall and she'd gone to help her for a few days… She got back early this morning, parked the car and when she went into the back yard she found him floating face down in the pool…"

Ziva gasped and Jethro pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her, he may have been a suspect but both he and Ziva had come to like the man in the months they had been part of the community, "Was it an accident?"

Samantha shrugged, "NCIS are here, there's 3 agents talking to Katherine at the moment but apparently they want to speak to everyone so I guess they must suspect something…"

Gibbs nodded, "I guess they must… Maybe they just want to know if we saw or heard anything unusual last night."

As he finished speaking 3 agents walked out of the house, Ziva watched as Tony nodded to two agents she didn't recognise, sending them in one direction before he began walking towards them. Stopping by the little group of three he introduced himself, "Mrs Parker if you wouldn't mind speaking to my colleague over there I'm just going to have a chat with Mr & Mrs Cooper…"

Ziva nodded, "Could we do this inside agent? It's a little cold this early in the morning and I wasn't really planning on standing outside for hours when I dressed this morning… And I'm sure my husband will be more agreeable after his first cup of coffee…"

Tony dipped his head in agreement, "That would be fine ma'am…"

With that Ziva lead Jethro back up the drive, entering the house she looked between the two men, "I'll be back down in a minute…" Spotting the glare Jethro was sending in Tony's direction she quickly added, "Try not to kill him Jethro, I'm in no condition to assist with disposing of the body…"

One more look between the men and she quickly headed up the stairs, reaching her closet she changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top. Pausing in front of the mirror she pulled her hair back out of her face and secured it in a low ponytail. Satisfied with her appearance she headed back down the stairs, shaking her head in amusement as she saw the two men in the exact spots she had left them. Walking in between the pair of them she headed for the kitchen, calling over her shoulder as she went, "So Tony where's Tim?"

Tony sighed as he followed Gibbs towards the kitchen, "He refused to come, didn't go down so well with the director but he told her she could send someone else or take his badge. Told me he didn't want anyone here to know he was an agent, said something about visiting you fairly often and not wanting to blow your cover…"

Ziva nodded answering him as she continued to move about the kitchen, reaching coffee from the cupboard and setting the maker to start, "He and Abby visit at least once a week, they have been very good friends to us…" She looked pointedly at him as she finished her statement and was slightly satisfied to see him look awkwardly down at his feet.

Jethro apparently tired of the small talk broke the brief period of silence that followed, "What's the story DiNozzo…"

"Lieutenant Commander David Lewis, his wife came back from visiting family early this morning, noticed the backdoor was open, and found her husband dead in the pool. GSW to the head, Ducky reckons it was close range, but no blood pools at the scene, killer must have waited for him to bleed out before dumping him in the pool and cleaning up after himself… Did you hear any shots last night?"

Gibbs simply shook his head before Ziva elaborated, "Our room is at the back of the house overlooking the woods, if they had tried to muffle the sound we may not have heard it…"

"Could have been a professional, y'know Ziva found a link between the money going out and the Lieutenant's brother, she told Tim last night, he was arranging for someone to come and speak to him this morning, maybe someone else in the group found out and decided to take him out before he talked his way into a deal…" Gibbs glanced up at the junior agent waiting for his reaction.

Tony simply nodded as he jotted down a few notes, "Everything is going back to Abby, she'll be able to tell if a silencer was used. Wasn't a whole lot of evidence left behind though…"

A slightly awkward silence fell over the group again and Ziva took the opportunity to pour two mugs of coffee, handing one to Tony she passed the other to Gibbs. Tony couldn't help but notice the way Gibbs's free arm snaked protectively around Ziva's waist, "You not drinking any?"

Ziva shook her head, "Caffeine isn't great for the baby, I'm being rationed…"

With this she glared half-heartedly at Gibbs who simply snorted in amusement and kissed her forehead. Tony nodded, "Yeah you're really getting big now…" at Ziva's glare he began to backtrack, "I mean you're still hot…" This time it was Gibbs's turn to glare; Tony sighed, "I give up, Ziva you look beautiful, being pregnant clearly suits you, Bossman Ziva clearly makes you happy, I'm sorry for being such a jerk…"

Jethro grunted and Ziva elbowed him in the stomach, "What he means to say is apology accepted…" Gibbs opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it again on seeing Ziva's glare, "however do anything like that again and pregnant or not I will kick your ass, understand…"

Tony nodded, smiled slightly and nodded to the door, "Better go do some work…"

Gibbs nodded, "Case isn't gonna solve itself DiNozzo…"

Ziva smiled slightly as she left Jethro's arms and led the way back to the front door, smiling slightly at Tony she opened the door, "I am sorry we couldn't be more help Agent DiNozzo…"

"Thank you for your time anyway Mrs Cooper…" He nodded slightly in Gibbs's direction, "Mr Cooper…"

Ziva watched at the door as Tony walked down the drive, before closing the door and turning to her partner, "So much for our easy lead…"

Jethro nodded and pulled her into a hug, gently kissing her, "We'll still be out of here before the baby comes…"

Ziva looked up at him, "I hope so…"

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**Author's Note (Take Two): **So there's another chapter done, I look forward to reading your reviews they always cheer me up! Minor plea of sorts, please feel free to pm me prompts, love writing one shots for a little break, either from writing this or doing uni work so if I have a stash of prompts I can use for flash fic all the better. The promptee will obviously get acknowledgement and a dedication, so yeah anything, be it cannon or completely AU, detailed or just a single word anything would be great :)


	18. Introducing Miss Naysa Mari Gibbs

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's Note: **I'm so pleased to find that people are still reading this! I really love seeing all the reviews, I do try and reply to everyone but if I did miss anyone I'm sorry! I do definately appreciate all your comments though.

* * *

**Introducing Miss Naysa Mari Gibbs**

As Gibbs sat in his office at the Pentagon his impatience was obvious to anyone who happened to pass by his open door. None of the regular staff could understand what would make the usually unflappable, unreadable man become so obviously agitated. Of course none of them knew that today happened to be a date that had been marked on his kitchen calendar for weeks. Today was Ziva's next scan, at 24 weeks it was his first chance to see his child in person, and their chance to find out if they would be joined by a son or a daughter in the coming months. Gibbs really didn't mind if Ziva was expecting a girl or a boy, but a small part of him was hoping for a daughter. He could easily imagine a small girl, the image of his wife to be running around their garden.

The next ten minutes were some of the slowest in his life, which really was saying something the number of times he'd been blown up, shot at or otherwise nearly killed. Eventually though both of the hands of the clock reached the top. Before even a minute had passed he had left his seat, grabbed his jacket and keys and left the door to swing shut behind him as he made his way out to his car. Sitting in the driver's seat he reached across and pulled an earpiece out of the glove compartment, sliding it into his ear he silently thanked McGee for teaching him how to use the hands free kit that came with his phone. Waiting until he'd cleared security and pulled out onto the main road he pressed the button on his steering wheel and spoke clearly as it beeped, "Call Ziva."

He listened as the phone dialled out, ringing three times before the call was answered. Gibbs could hear the traffic cruising past and the wind rustling over the mike at the other end of the line, the sounds informing him that not only was Ziva in her car, she was driving with the roof down. All of which made his first question rather redundant, "Hey Zee, you on your way?"

She laughed slightly, "Yes Jethro, carrying your child has not removed my ability to tell the time…"

He smiled at the gentle mocking in her tone, pleased that they had so quickly reached a phase in their relationship where they were completely comfortable around one another, and unafraid to tease the other should the situation arise. "I know, I'm just…"

Ziva cut in, "Excited to see if you'll be getting a little princess to spoil rotten, I know…"

"We might not get to find out, it will depend if baby is as stubborn as their mother" he replied gruffly.

She laughed again, "Don't sulk just because I know the real you Jethro. I'll see you in 15 minutes, love you." With that Ziva hung up and Gibbs pulled the piece from his ear, dropping it on the passenger seat and smiling to himself.

Turning off the main road he followed the driveway into the parking lot of Bethesda Naval Hospital, he quickly spotted Ziva leaning casually against the hood of her car, he hand resting lightly on her abdomen. He smiled as he pulled into the spot next to her. Waiting for him to exit the car Ziva turned to him, "You really should reverse into the space dear, much easier to just drive out…"

"Thank you for the advice darling…" He laughed and slipped his arm around her, gently kissing her, "You go here before me, how did you manage that?"

She laughed slightly and leaned into him, "It is a well-known fact Jethro that I am the only one at the Agency was is considered to be a scarier driver that you… Speed limits are really only a guideline, especially if you have these lovely Department of State plates. Did you know state police won't pull you over if you have them… It's like magic."

He laughed again and slipped his hand into hers, gently tugging on her arm to get her moving in the direction of the hospital. She quickly snuggled against him, her hand slipping out of his, instead she slid her arm around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder they walked side by side through the main lobby before making their way to the reception of the maternity suite. Ziva smiled at the receptionist, "Ziva David, I have a scan appointment…"

The receptionist smiled, "Take a seat Ziva, your doctor will be with you shortly…"

Ziva followed Jethro over to the seating area and sat down beside him, taking his hand in hers she allowed it to rest in his lap. He smiled at her, "Nervous?"

She looked across at him, "No… Yes, a little, but not bad nerves, good nerves y'know…"

He smiled, "I know…"

Ziva smiled and was about to answer when she spotted her OB-GYN emerge from a corridor and glance around the waiting area, spotting them she quickly made her way over to the couple, smiling warmly at the pair, "Ziva, and this must be Mr Gibbs…"

She held her hand out and Gibbs took hit, shaking her hand firmly before rising from his seat and following her along with Ziva to the exam room. He seated himself on a stool as Ziva hopped up onto the exam bed, after answering all the usual questions and being measured she slid her blouse up to expose her bump, pushing the waistband of her skirt lower she leant back and watched as the doctor squeezed gel onto her lower abdomen. Ziva smiled at her partner and looked to the screen as the doctor pressed the wand to her stomach and began the ultrasound.

The doctor smiled, "Well baby has a good strong heartbeat, and is growing very well… did you want to know the sex? Looks like baby is being co-operative at the moment…"

Ziva looked to Gibbs and smiled, "Yes we want to know…"

The doctor nodded, "Just let me take a few measurements…" She pressed a few buttons on the console, "Well if baby keeps growing at this rate they are certainly going to be a very healthy size, you'll be looking at a nine and a half, or ten pound baby…" She moved the wand lower and smiled, "Girl…"

Ziva smiled, "A girl…" She looked to Gibbs and then back at the screen, her hand reaching for the console. "I'm having a girl, our daughter…"

Jethro smiled and scooted the stool slightly closer to her bad, raising her hand to his lips and gently kissing her knuckles. She turned her head to face him and he could see the tears sparkling in her eyes, "Our daughter" He echoed before leaning down to kiss her, "Our little Naysa Mari…"

The doctor smiled as she finished wiping the gel off Ziva's stomach, telling them she'd give them a few moments before leaving the room. Jethro's hand immediately went to Ziva's stomach, caressing the bump as she slid her arms around him, pulling him towards her so she could reach him, one hand traveling into his hair as she began to kiss him, her tongue lightly running over his lips before slipping inside his mouth, her tongue caressing his, before pulling back as the exam room door reopened and the doctor re-joined them. She waited as Ziva stood and readjusted her clothing before handing her a stack of photos and a DVD copy of the scan.

Thanking the doctor the couple made their way back to the parking lot; pressing Ziva up against the trunk of his car he gently kissed her, "Plans for this afternoon?"

She shook her head, "I have the afternoon off, State doesn't have anything that they need me to interpret so I'm free to do some work on the case… Or spend some time with my husband…"

Jethro smiled slightly, "I think that could be arranged…"

She grinned and pulled away, "Abby and McGee are coming for dinner tonight…" She pulled a list out of her jacket pocket, "You could stop at the store on the way back to the house, so your poor pregnant wife can go back to the house and rest…"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow but took the list from her hand, kissing her forehead he pulled away and swatted her backside, "I'll see you back at the house."

Climbing into her car she watched as Jethro began to reverse out of the space, 'I told you so' apparent from the smirk on her face as he had to stop suddenly to avoid being hit as he pulled away. Ziva pulled easily out of her own parking space, following Jethro to the main road before turning left towards the house as he went right towards the town.

Ziva couldn't help but smile as she entered the house, turning the alarm off she climbed the stairs and changed into a pair of loose fitting cargo pants and a tight white vest top, the material stretching easily over her expanded waistline but still sitting snugly around her bump. Motherhood was not something Ziva had ever truly expected to happen to her, but now that the process has begun she was extremely proud of her pregnancy and was not afraid to show it off. It certainly helped that her pretend-soon-to-be-real husband was clearly attracted to her new figure, it seemed that since she'd convinced him that as she was already pregnant there really was no reason to uphold the no sex rule, he couldn't get enough of her, which suited her just fine with the way her hormones were affecting her. She sat at her dresser and pulled her hair loose; reaching for her brush she pulled it through her thick dark hair and allowed it to fall in deep waves around her face. She was brought out of her revelry by her daughter's sharp kick to her bladder; she smiled slightly and rubbed calming circles on her stomach, "Calm down Naysa, daddy will be home soon." Hearing the front door open and close she looked down at her bump, "See here he is now…"

Hearing his call from the hallway she called back "Upstairs"

She heard him drop the groceries on the hall table and his footsteps on the stairs before his head appeared around the bedroom door, crossing the room he wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her, "You look beautiful…"

She laughed slightly, "I'm wearing scruffy pants and…"

Gibbs cut her off with a finger on her lips, "Beautiful…"

She smiled slightly and pulled him towards the bed, "Come, I need to sit down, Naysa is putting rather a lot of pressure on my ankles…"

Jethro smiled and pulled her close to him as they sat on the bed, "You still have three months to go…"

She sighed slightly, "I know, if she makes it to ten pounds I'm going to be huge!" she glanced up at her partner and seeing his smirk she hit him playfully, "You couldn't have gone small for our first one?"

Gibbs arched an eyebrow as he looked down at her, "First one?"

Ziva blushed slightly, "I don't know… I never truly thought I would be a mother but now…" She stroked her bump protectively before continuing, "Perhaps it would be nice for Naysa to have a playmate…"

Gibbs looked thoughtful for a moment, "Kelly was a small baby y'know, only six pounds…"

"Ah so you were thoughtful for Shannon but not me…"

Gibbs growled as he pulled her onto his lap, "Have you considered that this could all be due to your stubborn Israeli genes woman, and nothing to do with me…"

She laughed and kissed him, her lips moving from his across his jaw and onto his neck as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you Jethro…"

He smiled, "I love you too…"

They sat quietly together for a while before Jethro moved Ziva off his lap and moved to her dresser, she watched as he began looking through the drawers, examining the labels of each bottle before either replacing them in the drawer or lining it up on the dresser surface. Picking up the bottles he made his way back to the bed. Ziva looked at him clearly puzzled and he smiled, "You said your ankles hurt… I was on tour a lot when Shannon was pregnant but when I was home I used to do this for her, she said it helped…"

With that he sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her feet into his lap. Picking up the bottle of nail varnish remover he poured a little onto a piece of cotton wool and began by removing the chipped polish from her toes. When that was finished he reached for the bottle of cocoa butter moisturiser, squeezing it onto his palm and rubbing his hands together to warm the cream before he began to massage her feet, his strong fingers working in circles and causing her to moan in appreciation. Finally he took his time reapplying her nail varnish, applying both base and top coats as well as the coloured polish.

Crossing back to her dresser he replaced the bottles before changing out of his uniform and into a pair of jeans and a t shirt. Ziva wiggled her toes as the polish dried and she smiled before giggling, "Leroy Jethro Gibbs just painted my toenails…"

Gibbs pouted and moved back to the bed, he sat next to her stretching his legs out in front of him, "I try and do one nice thing and this is the response I get… I won't bother again…"

Ziva laughed once more before tilting his face towards her and kissing him, "You know I appreciate it, we might have to rename you though…" He raised an eyebrow and she went on to answer is silent question, "Well that second B for bastard? I don't think that's the case anymore, you're going soft darling…"

Suddenly Ziva found herself flat on her back, Jethro's arms firmly pressed to the bed either side of her shoulder to stop her from sitting up, "There is nothing soft about me Zee…"

She giggled and slipped her arms around his neck, "I think Naysa would disagree, she knows her real daddy well, even if it's a side very few get to see…"

She pulled him down kissed him deeply, her hand travelling into his hair, holding him to her as her other arm travelled around his back, she could feel his shoulder muscles rippling under the strain of holding his body above her, as she stroked his back. Pushing him onto his side she rolled towards him, his body was pulled flush against her bump as she stared into his eyes. "I love every part of you Jethro, every part…"

He stroked her hair back behind her ear, "I love you too" He gently pressed his lips to her forehead, "And I love our Naysa too…"

Ziva couldn't help but smile as she looked into his eyes and saw complete sincerity in them. She stroked his cheek, "I never thought I would be a mother, now that I am going to be I am very glad that it is with you…"

The gentle kiss she placed against his lips was soon deepened, as his leg wrapped around hers, holding her against him. Actions becoming more forceful as open mouthed kisses left trails of bruises along necks and shoulders. Ziva moaned loudly as Jethro's hand travelled under her vest, his fingers brushing over her bump before reaching the lace of her bra. Arching her back and pushing her breasts towards him she sighed happily as his fingers slid beneath the underwire of her bra and gently circled her nipple.

The sound of the doorbell drew a groan of frustration from Ziva as she rolled away from her lover. Glancing at the bedside clock she turned back towards Gibbs, "That'll be Abby and Tim, go and let them in and I'll be down in a minute…"

Gibbs rose from the bed, quickly straightening out his t shirt before heading out of the bedroom and downstairs. Opening the door he smiled as he saw it was indeed Abby and McGee standing on the front step. Stepping back he opened the door wide to let the couple in. Upon closing the door he turned to find the pair of them smirking. He watched as Tim turned to Abby, "I think we may have interrupted something Abs…"

She grinned, "I think you may be right Tim… So Gibbs, you and Mrs Gibbs busy?"

"I'm not Mrs Gibbs quite yet Abby…" All three turned to see Ziva at the top of the stairs, as she made her way down the stairs it became obvious that her lips were still swollen from the rudely interrupted make out session.

Abby grinned, "Mrs Gibbs or not, Tim and I clearly interrupted something… In my professional scientific opinion lips like that only occur as a result of kissing, lots of kissing…" She crossed to Ziva and pushed her hair back over her shoulder, "And those bruises can only mean one thing…"

This time it was Tim's turn to continue, weeks spent with the couple outside of work had certainly changed his personality, he was no longer the timid junior agent he had been, "Clearly our Jethro here is possessive…"

Abby laughed, "And judging by that lovely bruise on his neck he isn't the only one…"

Ziva looked at Jethro and shared a smirk, clearly Abby and Tim were trying to embarrass them, well as far as she was concerned more than one couple could play at that game. She crossed to Jethro, "We were no having sex when you arrived…" she slid her arm around him, her hand clearly coming to rest on his bum. "That is not to say that we wouldn't have been if you had been half an hour later… You see I find my future husband rather irresistible at the moment, isn't that right darling…"

He smiled down at her, "Sounds about right to me…" Reaching down he pulled her closer to him and kissed her, perfectly aware that it would be considered completely out of character for those that only really knew him as Special Agent Gibbs.

Abby cleared her throat, "As hot as that is some of us have been working all week and were lured out here on a Friday night with the promise of food…"

Ziva pulled away from Gibbs smiling, "And food you will have Abby…"

She moved to head towards the kitchen when she was suddenly stopped by Gibbs' arms around her waist and his lips on her neck, "Need some help Zee?"

She smirked, "Yes, but not from you, you would just distract me…"

Ziva looked up and smiled as she spotted the looks Abby and McGee were sharing, "Abby can help me… We can have some of that girl chat that I know you hate so much…"

She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before pulling away, grabbing Abby's hand and dragging her into the kitchen. Abby leaned against the counter as Ziva moved about the kitchen, fetching things from cupboards and the fridge, laying them all out in front of her. "So Ziva, what's this girl chat that you wanted to have?"

Ziva smiled and turned to her, resting both her hands on her bump, "well aunty Abby, it seems that in three months or so you will have a niece…"

Abby squealed, "You're having a girl?" Seeing Ziva's nod she quickly crossed the kitchen and pulled her friend into a hug, giving her a quick squeeze she took a step back, holding her at arm's length as she looked into her eyes, "Names?"

Ziva smiled, "Just one, Naysa Mari Gibbs…"

Abby grinned and nodded in approval, "That is so cute!"

Ziva nodded and took Abby's hand in her own, leading her across the kitchen to the table and sitting her in a chair before lowering herself into the one next to it, "So Abs, now that Jethro and I are happy what are we going to do about you and Tim?"

Abby looked up at her, trying to keep any emotion from her face, "What about me and Tim?"

Ziva laughed, "You like him Abby! Do not try and pretend otherwise… If I can tell what Jethro is thinking you are easy in comparison, as is Tim…"

Abby sighed, "So I like him, makes no difference…"

"Of course it makes a difference Abby!" Ziva leant in closer to her, looking her friend deeply in the eye, "He likes you too Abs, I can tell."

"Oh I know he likes me, he just won't do anything about it, keeps bringing up rule 12…"

Ziva grinned, "Well then today is your lucky day!"

Abby looked up at her friend, Ziva was clearly a different person from the Mossad officer that she had been when she had first arrived in Washington, she was undoubtedly more open and friendly, but these levels of excitement from the foreign agent were still unusual, and frankly Abby was a little wary, "How exactly is it my lucky day?"

Ziva simply smirked, "Because tonight you, my little gothic friend, are going to get lucky" Ziva frowned as she saw the puzzled expression on Abby's face, "Did I get it wrong again? Getting lucky, that is the expression no?" She leaned a little closer and dropped her voice down a level, "You and Tim are going to have sex…"

Abby frowned, "How did you work that one out?"

Ziva leaned back once again, "Abby it is so simple!" she rose from her seat and crossed the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, "You like Tim, Tim likes you, the only thing stopping you and he from being together is rule 12, so all we have to do is convince McGee that rule number 12 is no longer valid. Seeing that it is Jethro's rule and yet he and I are about to have a daughter together it should not be too difficult."

Abby moved across the kitchen and started shelling peas to help Ziva as she continued, "I don't know, just because Gibbs is with you doesn't mean he'll drop the rule…"

Ziva shrugged, "Jethro is many things, but he is not a hypocrite, he would not stop you from doing something which he is doing, besides you are his favourite Abby!"

Abby giggled, "I think you are his favourite now Zee…"

Ziva rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean Abigail; Jethro loves you, he wants you to be happy and if Tim makes you happy then he will support that. After all the two of you have supported us." She grinned evilly, "And if not I will simply withhold sex until he agrees."

Both women jumped slightly as they heard a throat clear behind them, they turned around to see Jethro standing there his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. He crossed to Ziva, took the knife from her hand and placed it on the counter before pulling her to him. "Why am I being threatened with no sex before we are even married?"

Ziva smirked and held up her left hand, "I have no idea what you are talking about James; we have been married for some time…"

Jethro rolled his eyes, "Are you going to tell me or do I have to force it out of you?"

She smirked and shook her head, "I have been tortured and never said a word, what do you think you could do that they couldn't?"

The infamous half grin spread across his face as he looked down at her, "You forget I know you're your weaknesses…"

Her eyes widened, "You wouldn't!"

He simply grinned and began to tickle her mercilessly, his fingers easily working themselves into her most ticklish spots. Her squealing and cries to stop amid the bouts of laughter quickly drew Tim in from the living room. Moving to stand beside Abby he watched the couple with an amused gleam in his eye. Ziva finally gave in, "Okay okay! I'll tell you!"

Jethro smirked and pulled away, "I already know, I heard the conversation; I just wanted to see if you'd give in…" He turned to Abby and Tim, pulling Ziva in front of him and wrapping his arms around her, "I am very lucky to have Ziva, if the two of you being together well make you both happy you will find no argument from me. But if you hurt her Timothy I will hurt you…"

Tim dipped his head in acknowledgment, before sliding his hand into Abby's and smiling at her and a bright smile lit up her own face.

Ziva smiled at the two of them, "Of course Abby if you hurt Tim _I_ will have to hurt you…"

Abby nodded, and tilted his head towards him to kiss him. Jethro tilted his head down and whispered in her ear, "Quite the matchmaker aren't you…"

She brought her elbow back to hit him in the stomach and grinned when he grunted. "Now all of you out of my kitchen I have dinner to prepare."

Dinner later that evening was an enjoyable affair. Each couple took a side of the table and good food accompanied good conversation. As they finished eating they moved from the dining room into the lounge. Sitting onto the sofa Ziva passed Jethro the bottle of wine she had fetched from the kitchen, and sat down with her own glass of orange juice. The couples continued talking long into the night until Ziva rose from her seat, "Abs, come with me…"

Nodding Abby rose from McGee's arms, gently kissing him gently she followed Ziva from the room. Stepping into the sanctuary that was the Coopers bedroom Abby looked around in fascination, "So this is where you sleep…"

Ziva smiled, "Indeed, but this is not what I brought you in to look at, come…" Ziva led her into the closet, "Now I know when you planned to stay over tonight you were "just friends" so I am going to be your fairy god-mother, something in here must fit you…"

Abby looked around the closet in amazement, "Well they certainly stocked this well…"

Ziva laughed, "There have been a few additions, presents… Everything I've needed since I got pregnant…"

Abby pulled a few items off the shelf, "It's no wonder he couldn't help himself if you were wearing this…"

Ziva laughed, "He resisted pretty well I think you'll find Abs, I did all the work. He, well it was like he felt he didn't deserve to be happy."

Abby pulled her into a hug, "I'm pleased you made him see sense, you two have been through so much, you both deserve to be happy…"

Ziva smiled at the surprisingly serious statement coming from her usually excitable friend. "Thank you Abby…"

Ziva spotted something over Abby's shoulder and grinned, pulling away from her slightly she grabbed a hanger from the rail, holding it up in front of Abby she grinned, "Black silk and lace corset, perfect Abby wear… All the bedrooms are made up, but the front one is the next nicest, you two might want to take it…"

Abby smiled and kissed her cheek, "Thank you Ziva…"

Ziva smiled as she watched her exit the room, only to be replaced in the doorway by her future husband. "And I thought I was supposed to be the one going soft my darling assassin…"

She laughed and crossed to him, pulling him firmly into the room before pushing the door shut and pulling him towards the bed. She grinned, "I hope there will be nothing soft about you tonight darling…"

Jethro sighed and she laughed, "That was bad wasn't it…"

He nodded and she pulled him towards her, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. "I love you Leroy Jethro Gibbs…"

He sat down on the bed before pulling her onto his lap, "and I love you Ziva Rivka David…"

**¸.·ˆ¯)(¯ˆ·.¸**

The following morning Jethro was already seated and the kitchen table, coffee cup in hand when Tim walked in. both men were dressed similarly in jogging bottoms and loose t-shirts and Gibbs smirked as the younger man sat down opposite him. "I heard that you and Abby didn't waste any time last night…"

Tim smiled a smile scarily similar to one of Jethro's own, "It's not like you and Zee were sleeping, you might want to consider soundproofing so Naysa can sleep when she arrives… Never had her down as a screamer…"

Rich laughter was heard from the doorway and both men turned to see Ziva leaning against the frame, her boy shorts revealing her golden toned legs, and her hair tumbled in messy curls around her face. She crossed to the fridge and poured herself a glass of milk before joining the men at the table. "All women are potential screamers Tim, all we need is a man who knows what he is doing, and Jethro is very, very talented, very good with his hands."

She glanced across and smiled at the smirk on his face; she leaned across and gently kissed him, "Morning…"

"Morning…" he took another sip of his coffee and laid his hand on Ziva's stomach as she continued speaking with Tim.

"Where's Abby? Did you tire her out?"

He laughed, "You know Abs, always full of energy, I'm not sure it's possible to wear her out…"

"That's not to say it wasn't extremely satisfying…" Once again all the occupants were surprised by a voice at the door, and turned to find Abby just entering the kitchen.

Tim smiled and rose to meet her, gently pulling her into his arms and kissing her, "Is that my shirt?"

She nodded, he looked down at her appreciatively, "It looks better on you…"

Ziva laughed, "Jethro said exactly the same thing the first time he saw me in one of his shirts, it must be a man thing…"

He laughed slightly as he finished his coffee, "We like you in our clothing, usually means you're sticking around… Besides you were wearing very little other than my shirt, any man who doesn't think that looks good is a fool…"

She smiled and kissed him, "And we all know you are no fool dear…" She rose from her seat at the table, "Unless I am mistaken we have plans for today, so I am going to take a shower so we can actually leave the house at a reasonable time."

She smiled to herself as she saw the other three rise from the table in agreement and follow her up the stairs, in less than half an hour all four were back in the kitchen, this time dressed ready to leave for the park. Ziva picked up the blanket from the counter and Jethro grabbed the picnic basket she had prepared the night before and led the group out to his car. He put the basket into the trunk as the other three climbed into the car before getting in himself, starting the engine and pulling out of the drive, ready to spend an enjoyable day with those he considered his family.

**AN: **Hope you all enjoyed that, I wanted to bring a little more of Abby/Tim into the story as they've become quite an important part of Ziva and Gibbs' lives. I didn't go into huge detail in it though because I didn't know whether people reading this would be particularly interested in them as a secondary pairing so feel free to tell me in a review if you do like them and would be happy to see a little more of them, or not and would want their presence to be kept to a bare minimum. Also any prompt ideas feel free to PM me, working on a couple of one shots at the moment and I always like the challenge of them. As I said before they can be abstract one word things, or maybe detailed plot bunnies that you had but never managed to write :)


	19. The Case Concludes

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's Note:** So we're nearly done, just one more chapter to go after this. Thanks for sticking with me and reviewing, reading them makes my day. I struggled slightly with this chapter, but I decided in the end it was the way it needed to go. Let me know what you think :)

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Chapter 19 – The Case Concludes.

Outside the ground was turning white as the snow began to fall. Delicate flakes settling on the sidewalks, lying across gardens and drifting onto the bare branches of the surrounding trees. Inside Leroy Jethro Gibbs added another log to the fire before replacing the guard and settling back onto the sofa, wrapping his arm around Ziva and kissing the top of her head as she carefully manoeuvred herself closer to his body. Christmas was swiftly approaching, as was Ziva's due date, with only a couple of weeks to go until both, the parents to be were both hoping for a swift resolution to the case. Neither of them could fault the team, both Ziva and Gibbs knew that Abby and Tim had been working round the clock following up leads but nothing that they had found had been enough to arrest anyone or to risk their cover but they were hopeful that the latest information would lead to something concrete, and the end of the case.

Jethro smiled as he felt his daughter kick his side and looked down at Ziva, brushing her hair away from her face as she turned her face up to look at him, "Someone wants her daddy's attention…"

He smiled and placed his hand on her abdomen, caressing the spot where he could feel his daughter moving. "Well she has it for the next hour or so until we have to get ready for that dinner at Sally's..."

Ziva laughed quietly causing Gibbs to look at her, his eyebrow raised in question, "What's so funny Zee?"

She gently kissed him before explaining, "When we first arrived I thought you would, what is the expression, have a thing for her…"

"You thought I'd have a thing for Sally?"

Ziva nodded, "She is your type, a beautiful red head… And let's not forget half of your previous wives have had names beginning with an S…"

He laughed, "She's married Zee"

Ziva shrugged, "I did not say that you would marry the woman, just that you would like to sleep with her…"

He shook his head, "No, especially not when I have such a beautiful Israeli in my bed…"

She smiled as he leant down to kiss her, "Speaking of your bed Naysa thinks you should show her mother some attention."

The corner of Jethro's mouth curled upwards into his infamous smirk, "Aren't you lucky to have such a considerate daughter…"

Ziva laughed and nodded as she slid her hand across his chest, "I think we both are…"

She squealed as she was suddenly scooped up bridal style, "Leroy Jethro Gibbs, what do you think you are doing? Put me down I am too heavy for you!" She clung to his shoulders as he carried her up the stairs, "What about your knee? Your shoulder? You'll put your back out!"

Jethro laughed quietly and lowered his head to gently kiss her, "you're not that heavy, I carried Shannon…"

Ziva laughed as he deposited her on the bed, "And since then you have been blown up twice, Ari put a bullet in your shoulder…"

Jethro lowered himself on the bed next to her, "You forgot I aged twenty years…"

Ziva sighed and rolled onto her side to face him, "I have told you before that the age difference does not bother me, I love you, Naysa loves you and you are going to be a wonderful father."

Jethro leaned down and kissed her, "I love you"

"I am rather fond of you too…"

Jethro smirked and gently lifted her top over her head, before rolling her onto her back and kissing her, his hand on the other side of her body, propping himself up, "That's good to know".

Ziva slipped an arm around his neck as she continued to kiss him between words, "You know now you are going to have to help me up… I am like a wood bug that gets turned over." She frowned slightly at the puzzled look that had appeared upon her partner's face, "Are they not wood bugs? You know those little insects that live in dark damp places…"

The corner of Gibbs's mouth curled upwards, "You mean a wood louse…" He leant down and gently kissed her, "I will always be here to help you though."

Pulling back to look at her face he smiled before kissing her once again, his lips capturing hers before slowly moving across her cheek, his nose gently nudging the sensitive spot behind her ear. He gently sucked on her earlobe causing her to moan before softly tugging on it with his teeth as he continued his journey down her body. He placed feather light kisses down her neck, knowing she intended to wear her hair up he was careful not to leave a mark. Lying on his side his fingers traced the black lace edging of her bra, gently tracing circles over her soft flesh before sliding down the bed and pressing a kiss against her belly button. She threaded her fingers into his hair causing him to look up at her and smile. Spreading his fingers wide he caressed her stomach. "3 weeks to go…"

Ziva smiled and gently tugged on his hair, encouraging him to move upwards. "Are you looking forward to becoming a father again?"

He nodded as he brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, "I can't wait to meet her, maybe it's because I've been with you rather than away but Shannon's pregnancy seemed to go much quicker."

Ziva smiled, "I am a little worried about the bit that comes before that. I know we've been to all the classes but I still feel unprepared. When I joined Mossad I trained rigorously, we drilled the same thing over and over until I could do it in my sleep. Then at NCIS I had you to watch my back, to make sure I was doing things properly, and now this, how do you practice giving birth? What if I am a terrible mother?"

He smiled slightly and sat up, gently pulling Ziva back to an upright position and wrapped his arms around her, "The fact you care enough to be concerned tells me you will be a wonderful mother Ziva. As for the birth? I will be beside you, I promise. In less than a month there will be the three of us and it will be perfect."

Ziva smiled and rested her head against his shoulder, "I know, I do really, I am just being silly. I am looking forward to being Mrs Gibbs."

"Hmm, I'm rather looking forward to that too. But right now we need to get ready for dinner." He kissed her once more before rising from the bed, holding his hand out to her he helped her to her feet, smiling he watched as she crossed the bedroom and disappeared into their en-suite.

A short while later Ziva returned to the bedroom wearing a deep red dress that accentuated her pregnancy curves and caused Jethro to stop in his tracks and a simple wow to escape his lips. Ziva smiled and crossed to his side, straightening the collar of his dark shirt and undoing the second button, giving him a more casual look. The black pants and shirt showed off his still trim figure and set off his silvering hair and icy blue eyes. Linking her fingers with his, she led him down the stairs, smiling as he reached for her coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. Pulling his own jacket on he slipped his arm around her waist and led her out of the house, pausing only to lock the door before making their way over to Sally's.

Jethro followed her up the driveway, waiting to catch her if she slipped on the frozen surface; successfully navigating their way up the steps to the front door he leaned around her and pressed the bell.

"James, Suri!" Sally exclaimed as she opened the door before stepping back and welcoming the couple into her home, "So pleased you could make it! You must be due to give birth anytime now."

Ziva smiled and gently rubbed her swollen abdomen as Jethro removed her coat and hung it in the cupboard. "I am due on the 22nd; she is going to be a Christmas baby…"

Jethro took her hand and squeezed it, "I'm just hoping she's as punctual as her mother, I would like to have her home for Christmas Day."

The two of them followed Sally into the living room and greeted the other couples already gathered there. Jethro helped Ziva down to the low couch before sitting next to her and gratefully accepting the drink offered by Sally. He sat quietly beside his partner as the other guests took advantage of the period before dinner to question her about the baby. Smiling slightly as she expertly handled questions on the nursery, how long she planned to take off work and whether or not she would breast feed. He could however tell she was relieved when Sally re-entered the room to inform them dinner was ready. Slowly standing Jethro followed Ziva through to the dining room, pulling back her chair for her before taking his place next to her at the table. Sally was quick to bring in their starters and soon the only noise to be heard in the room was the slight scraping of cutlery on crockery and quiet murmurs of appreciation.

During the main course talk turned to holiday plans, which in turn lead to discussions of family and those they would rather avoid. It was towards the end of the course that Gibbs slid his chair back from the table as he felt his phone begin to vibrate, pulling it from his pocket he quickly glanced at the caller id. Looking up at Sally he smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry Sally, I need to take this."

Rising from his chair he brushed his hand across Ziva's shoulder as he passed her chair on the way to the hall. He walked back through to the lobby so he wouldn't easily be overheard by those still in the dining room. Flipping the phone open he brought it up to his ear, "You got something Tim?"

Jethro could hear the excitement in McGee's voice as he began to speak, "We've got it boss! Abby found a link to the murder, it was a hair we found at the scene, there was nothing in the database when we ran it, but we only had access to the criminal database, not the military's. Abby put an alert on the sample, this morning we got a familial hit. Enough common points to indicate a sibling, the name that popped was Simon Grant, the younger brother of Captain Adam Grant."

Jethro glanced around, confirming he was still alone before answering in a hushed tone. "Any half decent lawyer will have that thrown out, they were friends, it could have got there at any time, you know that Tim."

"I know boss, but I did some digging, Captain Grant is clearly the achiever of the two brothers. Graduated Annapolis second in his class and was commissioned as an Ensign. He quickly worked his way through the ranks boss, and the promotion board is currently considering him for his first star. Simon on the other hand dropped out of high school and has worked a number of various minimum wage jobs. Simon Grant, however, has a security deposit box in his name at the Washington Memorial Bank. Tony and I started wondering exactly why a guy who had never made it past an entry level position would need a safety deposit box so we took a look at the security footage…"

Jethro interrupted. "Get to the point Tim; I'm kinda busy at the moment."

"A little fun with Ziva before the baby arrives?" Tim asked, the smirk obvious in his voice.

"I'm in the middle of dinner at the Grants actually." Gibbs smiled slightly as Sally walked out of the dining room on the way to the kitchen. "I'm about to miss dessert so if we could hurry it up."

"You got company boss?"

"I do."

"Okay, so Adam had the box in his brother's name, we spotted him on the CCTV footage. Tony got a warrant and opened the box; clearly it was his insurance in case one of the others turned on him. We've got account details and dates and amounts for each individual illegal transfer. We're on the way now with the warrants, about twenty minutes out. You and Ziva going to be okay? We know what he's capable of…"

Jethro could easily detect the hint of worry in Tim's voice as he spoke, he glanced over his shoulder once more, "We'll be fine, I'll keep her out of the way."

With that he hung up and made his way back to the dining room, slipping into his seat next to Ziva he smiled, "Sorry Sally, there's a slight problem with a shipment of vehicles that's due to head out to Afghanistan in two days' time. All cleared up now though." He leaned across and kissed Ziva's cheek, brushing his lips across her earlobe and whispering as he did so, "It's over"

Ziva turned to him and smiled before gently kissing him, "No more running off and missing dessert then…"

He leant back in his chair and draped his arm across the back of hers. To everyone else it appeared to be a casual relaxed gesture, but Ziva could tell it was a protective gesture, that he was concerned about how this was going to end. Smiling she squeezed his hand and went back to eating her dessert knowing the best thing to do for the pair of them was to continue as if nothing had changed.

There was no need to feign their surprise at the events that followed, the sound of the front door being forced open and crashing against the hall wall genuinely shocked the pair of them. Within seconds the dining room was filled with NCIS agents. Ziva and Gibbs watched as Tim moved quickly across the room, pulling Adam from his chair and placing handcuffs around his wrists, "Captain Adam Grant you are being arrested for embezzling from the US Navy and the murder of Lieutenant Commander David Lewis."

Jethro rose from his seat as several agents he didn't recognise began to pull other men from their seats. Helping Ziva from hers he began to guide her into the background, away from the understandably shocked and angry wives; after all it wasn't every day that you discovered not only was your husband part of a group defrauding the Navy but that one of you was married to a murderer, and another the murder victim.

Tony and Tim were watching as the men were escorted out of the house towards the waiting cars. Things seemed to be going well until a junior agent Ziva and Gibbs didn't recognised turned back to them, "Special Agent Gibbs, glad to be finished?"

Gibbs eyes widened in disbelief as he realised some unknown probie had blown their cover at the last minute. Hearing angry accusations behind him he turned and discovered Ziva had drifted away from him and was now finding herself trapped in a corner as Sally turned on her. Usually this wouldn't concern him, but he knew in her current condition she wouldn't be able to defend herself to the same extent as normal. As soon as he turned the level of Sally's voice increased as she accused her of faking everything. Tony and Tim both arrived back in the room to see Sally snatch the knife she had used to cut dessert with and plunge it into Ziva's side, accusing her of faking the pregnancy as well. The anguished scream that escaped from Ziva was clearly not faked and whilst none of the men could reach her in time to stop the incident from happening they were all quick to respond. Jethro roughly pushed Sally to the side as he made his way to Ziva's side. McGee was on his phone calling in the EMTs and Tony was cuffing the clearly horrified Sally.

Jethro crouched down beside Ziva, pressing his hand to her wound as he crouched over her. The fear was clear in her eyes as he looked down at her, his hand gently squeezing hers as she reached for him. "Everything is going to be fine Zee…"

He leant closer to her as the blood began to seep through his fingers, "Just stay with me Zee, I can't lose you as well."

She squeezed his hand tighter, whispering "I love you" as he bent to kiss her forehead.

Tim came over and crouched down beside her, "Hey Zee, Bethesda are sending a helicopter for you, they have a team waiting for you at the hospital, and they're going to fix you right up."

She nodded and smiled slightly in response as he slipped his jacket from his shoulders and passed it to Jethro to help stem the bleeding. Tony watched from the doorway, wanting to do more to help but knowing they were yet to rebuild their friendship to the level where he would be welcome to intrude at such an intimate moment. Hearing the helicopter arriving, he went outside to meet the EMTs and guide them inside. Both Tony and Tim stood back and watched as they carefully applied a pressure bandage and moved her onto a stretcher. They looked on concerned as they lifted her from the floor and carried her out to the helicopter; Gibbs following closely, still clinging to her hand as they began their journey to the hospital. He sat beside her on the short flight, whispering reassuring words in her ear and gently stroking her hair. He stepped out of the helicopter beside her as they transferred her onto a trolley and began the final part of the journey into the hospital. The nurse had to forcibly remove his hand from hers as they reached the operating suite. After being told he could go no further Jethro could only watch as his fiancé and daughter were whisked through the double doors and into the operating theatre. Feeling helpless he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor and stared at his blood stained hands.


	20. Goodbye the Coopers

**Title:** Na le'hakeer et marat Cooper  
**Rating:** R  
**Category:** Casefic/Romance  
**Genre:** Het  
**Pairing:** Gibbs/Ziva  
**Summary:** Gibbs and Ziva have been dreaming of one another. What happens when they're forced to play husband and wife?  
**Disclaimer:** The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's Note:** So this is, the end of a particularly long road. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me, your lovely reviews have made sure that I reached the end of the tale eventually. Special mention has to go to ZC who has time and time again proved herself an excellent sounding board, even if at the time she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

* * *

**Goodbye Mr & Mrs Cooper, Hello Mr & Mrs Gibbs.**

Jethro was still sitting on the floor staring at his bloody hands when Abby arrived in a blur of black lace and silver chains. Within seconds she was crouched down beside him, her arms wrapped tightly around him, "Oh Gibbs! Tim called me and I came straight here!"

She leaned in and kissed his cheek, "You know they are going to be fine don't you? Ziva is incredibly stubborn, she won't be going anywhere until she's ready, and she's not ready to leave you yet… And Naysa? Well she's part you, and you're even more stubborn than Ziva, I bet you won't get Naysa doing anything she doesn't want to do."

Abby watched closely as a small smile crossed his face, "That's better", glancing down she noticed his hands for the first time, "Now…" She said as she rose from the ground, "let's get you cleaned up, can't have Naysa meeting her daddy for the first time whilst he's all covered in blood."

With that she pulled him from the floor and ushered him along towards the relatives waiting area, pausing as they passed a restroom to push him inside, thrusting a backpack into his arms as she did "Spare clothes from your locker at the office. Now go get washed up."

She was casually leaning against the opposite wall when Jethro reappeared out of the door, looking respectable once again. Abby looked him up and down before gesturing for him to spin. Jethro threw one of his trademark glares in her direction but instead of reacting as he had hoped Abby simply crossed her arms and continued to gesture. With a loud sigh indicating his reluctance Jethro slowly turned on the spot, the look on his face non-verbally communicating his message of "Happy now?"

Abby simply grinned, "Much better! Now come…"

Once again Jethro sighed before following her to the waiting area, sitting down on the chair next to her; he smiled slightly as Abby reached over for his hand and gently squeezed it in support. The time passed in silence until Tim appeared in the doorway; rushing over to the pair of them he gently kissed Abby's cheek before taking a seat next to her. "Tony is interviewing all the suspects, told me to head back over here. Any news on Ziva?"

Jethro shook his head but as Abby opened her mouth to expand on the situation a surgeon appeared in the waiting room, "Ziva David's relations?"

Jethro rose from his seat, "I'm her partner, is she okay? How's the baby?"

The surgeon smiled brightly, "Both mother and daughter are doing just fine, Ms David lost a large amount of blood, but we've given her a transfusion and she's responding well. We had to perform an emergency C-section but the baby was very lucky, the knife clearly missed her altogether, not even a small scratch on her, and we've managed to repair the damage to Ziva's uterus. I am pleased to say she should experience no difficulty conceiving or carrying another child to term…" The doctor took in the relieved look on Jethro's face and smiled, "If you'd like to follow me I'll take you down to the maternity ward so you can see them."

Jethro nodded and turned towards Abby and McGee, "You coming?"

They both nodded and rose silently from their seats, Jethro smiled slightly as he watched Tim take Abby's hand in his before turning and following the doctor out of the room. Reaching the elevator the surgeon waited for the three of them to join him before pressing the button for the third floor. "Your partner might still look a little pale when we get there but she will be fine, your daughter is very healthy, I see she is about two weeks early but I see nothing to be concerned about. She is a very good weight and her lungs were fully developed judging by the noise she was making."

Jethro couldn't help the proud smile that crossed his face as he followed the doctor out of the lift and down the corridor towards the maternity ward, coming to a halt outside room 303 the doctor paused, "Ziva probably won't be awake yet, but it shouldn't be too much longer."

He smiled and opened the door, Jethro took a step inside and looked towards his two friends, Tim shook his head, "Go and meet your daughter boss, Abs and I will still be here when Ziva comes round and you're both ready to introduce us to Naysa."

He nodded and stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him he quickly made his way over to the still unconscious Ziva, taking her hand in his he gently squeezed it as he leant over to kiss her forehead, "wake up Zee, your baby girl is waiting to meet you…"

As if hearing her cue Naysa let out a soft cry, turning to the clear plastic bassinet Gibbs could just about make out dark curls peeking out from beneath the little cream hat nurses had placed upon her head, swaths of pink blanket surrounded her, and as he moved closer he could make out the arm of a cream onesie as a tiny hand escaped the wrappings. Leaning down Jethro scooped up the delicate bundle, including all the blankets and carefully cradled her in his arms. Satisfied she was secure in the crook of his arm he moved to sit in the soft chair next to Ziva's bedside, with his spare hand he gently stroked his daughter's cheek, "Hello baby girl, I'm daddy…" He smiled broadly as his daughter's tiny hand wrapped around his index finger and her delicate eyelids opened to reveal familiar icy blue eyes as she looked up at him, "Hello Naysa…"

Jethro couldn't help but think that his daughter was quite satisfied with her name as her eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off into a contented sleep.

* * *

Sometime later Naysa awoke and Jethro moved to the window, carefully introducing her to the sun, trees and the rest of the outside world. He was still gazing down at his daughter as Ziva finally awoke. The first thing she noticed was her much flatter stomach, automatically assuming the worst she burst into tears, "My baby girl, they killed my baby girl!"

Hearing her cries Jethro quickly turned around and made his way over to the bed, "Ziva, shush, she's fine…"

Ziva looked up and saw the pink bundle in his arms, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed Jethro slipped his free arm around Ziva and helped her into a seated position, smiling he gently kissed her and then his daughter, "baby girl, this is your beautiful mummy…"

Ziva couldn't help but gasp as she looked down into the eyes of her child, "Jethro, she is beautiful…"

He smiled and kissed her forehead, "I would expect nothing less with you as her mother" he smiled and gently used his thumb to wipe away the tear tracks from her cheeks.

Ziva very gently traced her finger down her daughter's arm, "How is she? Did she get injured at all?"

Jethro shook his head, "surgeon said she had no injuries from the knife, and that her weight and lungs are both very good… he also said that they're repaired the damage you've suffered. You'll be a bit weak from the blood loss, and you'll have to take your time recovering because they had to cut through your stomach muscles to perform the C-section but in six months or so we can start trying for another baby… That's if you still want to…"

Ziva grinned, "Are you sure? You didn't seem so convinced when I suggested it before…"

Jethro looked down at their daughter, "How could I think anything else after meeting our beautiful daughter…"

"Did you register her birth yet?"

Jethro shook his head, "I was worried you wouldn't think she was a Naysa once you'd met her…"

Ziva smiled as she gazed at her child, "I think little miracle is even more appropriate now don't you…"

Jethro nodded and rose from the bed, "I'll go fill in the paperwork then…"

"No!" Jethro turned to look at Ziva in surprise, "We agreed I would be Mrs Gibbs before Naysa was born…"

Jethro crossed back to the bed, "I know Zee, but it's a little late for that now, we have to register her birth today…"

"So we'll get married today, we already have a marriage license…"

"It's not that simple sweetheart…"

The couple were interrupted by a knock on the door and watched as it slowly opened and Abby's head appeared through the gap, "Ziva! You're awake!" she made her way into the room and grinned as she caught sight of the tiny baby girl, "She's beautiful…"

Both parents smiled proudly as Abby continues, "I remember Ziva said she wanted to be Mrs Gibbs before Naysa was born…"

Ziva nodded and Gibbs gently stroked her hair before answering Abby, "We were just saying it is a little late for that now…"

Abby nodded, "But you haven't registered her birth yet…" Abby waited for confirmation before continuing, "So Ziva could still sign the register as Mrs Gibbs…"

Jethro watched as his lover's eyes lit up, "How?"

"I've been and spoken to the chaplain, and as you already have a marriage licence he says he's happy to marry you in the chapel downstairs today…"

"But Ziva doesn't have a dress…"

Ziva shook her head, "I do not need a dress, I just need you… if we want a big wedding we can have a blessing in a year or two, being married to you is more important than the wedding itself…"

Gibbs nodded in agreement, "Okay but we have no rings…"

Abby grinned again, "I have someone outside who can help with that…"

She smiled at the couple's confusion and crossed over to the door, opening it she stepped back and allowed the others to enter the room; Tim was the first through the opening, "Look who Tony found at the Navy Yard…"

He moved aside as Jackson made his way into the room, closely followed by Tony. Ziva's eyes lit up as she spotted him, she had been very fond of the elder Gibbs since they had first met in Stillwater. "Jackson!"

The senior Gibbs smiled as he crossed the room towards the couple, "Hello love…" He focused his attention on his son, "imagine my surprise to get a phone call from Tim here telling me that not only had my son somehow managed to get the most exotic beauty I have seen in decades to fall in love with him, they were also about to make me a grandfather again…"

Jethro swallowed and rubbed at the back of his neck, "Yeah dad, I meant to give you a call…"

Jackson simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the bundle in Ziva's arms, "So are you going to introduce me to my granddaughter?"

Ziva smiled and carefully turned her daughter to face him, "Jackson, meet Naysa Mari Gibbs, your granddaughter, baby girl meet Saba… Jethro, pass her to your father…"

Jethro once again rose from his place next to Ziva and gently took his daughter from her before passing her to his father. He couldn't help but smile as he watched his father fuss over the new-born. He knew he had adored Kelly and had been devastated by her loss. He also knew that over the years he had consoled himself to the idea of never having another grandchild; the joy he could now see in his father's eyes was worth the years of estrangement and the slow reconciliation. Jethro turned his attention to the last man in the room, "Thanks for bringing him Tony…"

"Least I could do boss…"

Gibbs nodded slightly before glancing at Ziva as she prodded him, seeing her nod pointedly in Tony's direction Jethro crossed to him and shook his hand before pulling him into a manly hug. "I believe Zee would like us to forget about the past few months…"

Ziva nodded from her bed, "Naysa needs her Uncle Tony…"

Tony couldn't help but smile; listening to Tim and Abby talk to Ducky about their many trips to visit the couple had made him feel more alone than he cared to admit. He watched as Jackson finally surrendered his granddaughter into the arms of a hovering Abby.

Jackson moved to sit at the foot of the bed, "Now Tim here informed me there may well be a wedding this evening when he called me…"

Ziva nodded and squeezed Jethro's hand. Jackson smiled and continued, "Then these may be of some use to you…" He removed a small box from his pants pocket and passed it to Jethro. Jethro in turn looked repeatedly between the small, yet familiar box and his father, watching him nod before slowly opening it. Ziva looked between father and son before her eyes settled onto the engagement ring and wedding band contained in the box. "They are beautiful Jackson…"

He nodded slightly, "They belonged to Jethro's mother…"

Jethro finally tore his eyes away from the rings and looked back to his father, "I can't take these dad…"

"Rubbish, it's what your mother would have wanted… she was still alive when you married Shannon or you would have had them then…"

Ziva looked up, "But Jethro has been married since then…"

Jackson nodded, "Truth be told I didn't like any of them… You I liked from the moment I met you, and for some reason you've decided that my Jethro is the one for you…" He looked over at Abby who was still cradling Naysa as Tim looked over her shoulder, "Besides none of them gave me a beautiful granddaughter to spoil…"

Abby looked up, "Right all you men out… I have to get Ziva and Naysa ready… Shoo go wait in the chapel."

Ziva smiled at Abby as the men exited the room, "Abby I am not sure what you have planned, I have nothing to change into, this was not exactly a planned trip…"

Abby shushed her and disappeared outside the room, returning a couple of minutes late, "You underestimate me… I had Tony go down to evidence storage. You see I happened to know there was this rather beautiful dress someone wore whilst posing for mock wedding photos just sitting down there…"

Ziva could not help but smile as Abby unzipped the garment bag and laid the familiar dress on the bed. Helping Ziva from the bed into an upright position Abby undid the ties of her hospital gown and slipped it from her shoulders. Reaching into a second holdall she pulled out a strapless bra and quickly helped Ziva switch into it. Crouching down beside her Abby offered her shoulder to lean on as Ziva lifted one foot and then the other to step into the dress. Returning to her full height Abby carefully pulled the dress up and began to lace Ziva's curvier figure into the corset style bodice. She very gently pulled the ribbons tight enough to show her newly formed hourglass figure without putting too much pressure on her surgical wounds. Stepping back Abby clapped in excitement, "You look even better than in the photos!"

Ziva laughed slightly but Abby nodded, "I'm serious, you look amazing, Jessica Rabbit has nothing on these new curves of yours…"

Abby then helped her to sit in the wheelchair she had procured. After a light dusting of foundation, the merest hint of mascara and lip gloss Abby reached a hairbrush from her bag and easily pulled Ziva's hair up into a simple top knot before easing her tiara and veil into place. She tutted as Ziva tried to stand, "Sit!"

"Abby I am not being wheeled up the aisle…"

"You are being wheeled to the chapel. You may walk up the aisle…"

Ziva relented and settled back into the chair as Abby lifted Naysa from the bassinet and carefully placed her in her mother's arms. "All ready?"

Ziva nodded and Abby set off towards the chapel. As they reached the doors Ziva stopped her, "Can you ask Jackson to step out here please…"

"Sure…" Abby quickly disappeared into the chapel and returned a minute later with Jackson in tow.

Ziva smiled up at him, "Jackson, I find myself needing a favour…"

Jackson smiled down at her, "Anything sweetheart…"

"I am glad you said that. I need someone to walk me down the aisle. I was hoping you might consent…"

Jackson blinked away a slight tear that had formed at the corner of his eye. "I would be honoured Ziva."

He carefully took Naysa from her arms as Abby helped her to stand. Handing his granddaughter to her honorary aunt he took his future daughter-in-law's hand in his, gently kissing it before tucking it under his arm. Waiting for Abby to take her seat he smiled at Ziva and gently pushed the door open as he heard the recorded wedding march begin to play. Slowly they made their way up the aisle as Jethro looked on in amazement. He had changed into the suit Tony ad provided him with but he had never expected Ziva to appear before him in that dress. He was still speechless as she arrived next to him and his father placed her hand in his. He waited for her to turn to him before releasing her hand and gently lifting her veil up and over her head. Leaning in he gently kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "You look amazing…"

The chaplain quietly cleared his throat and the couple turned to him, smiling apologetically they waited for him to begin. "Friends and family, we are gathered here tonight to join this man and this women in the holy bonds of matrimony. Marriage is not something to be entered into lightly, a successful marriage is not without its challenges, but if as a couple you are prepared to work together to face these challenges there is nothing more rewarding. Jethro I believe you have your own vows you wished to say…"

Jethro nodded and turned to his soon to be wife, "Ziva, I know when we first went undercover neither of us imagined this would be the outcome but I cannot imagine anything better happening to me. Having you beside me, understanding me in the way you do is not something I ever expected to find again, and I thank you for giving it to me. I thank you for blessing me with our beautiful daughter and I promise not a day will go by without me showing you just how much I love you. Know that I will never knowingly give you a reason to doubt how much I love you and our daughter. I am honoured to know that I am the one you chose to be your husband and I will never give you a reason to regret that decision. I love you Ziva Rivka David…"

Ziva smiled as she blinked away the tears, "Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you complete me. You have given me something I did not even realise I was missing and for that I will always be thankful to you. Over the past few months you have shown me what it means to be loved unconditionally and I cannot imagine a better husband for myself or father for Naysa. She may be our miracle but you are mine and I vow to love and honour you until the end of time."

The chaplain looked between the couple, the pure strength of emotion they felt for each other obvious to everyone in the room. "Do you have rings?"

Jethro nodded and reached for Ziva's hand, easily sliding his mother's wedding band onto her finger. Ziva looked a little lost until Abby pressed the platinum band Jethro had worn as Mr Cooper into her hand, smiling in gratitude Ziva reached for Jethro's left hand and slid the ring into place. Smiling broadly up at him as she released his hand she waited for the minister to continue.

"In the eyes of the Lord and the state of Maryland you are now man and wife. I believe it is tradition to kiss the bride."

Jethro smiled and took a step forward closing the gap between himself and Ziva, carefully wrapping his arms around her waist he dipped his head and captured her lips with his own; forgetting everyone else in the room as he felt her arms slowly wrap around his shoulder he pulled her closer against him and allowed his tongue to slip into her mouth, causing her to moan as it brushed against her own. Slowly tearing himself away from her he whispered in her ear, "I love you Mrs Gibbs."

She looked up into his eyes as he took a step backwards. "I love you Mr Gibbs." Smiling the couple both turned to their family and friends, "Thank you for making this happen today, Abby, Tim, you especially knew how important it was for me to sign my daughter's birth certificate as Mrs Gibbs. Jackson, thank you for travelling down, and Tony, thank you for taking the time to go down to the evidence locker and find my dress. You all have made this day perfect." She smiled at everyone, "despite the small incident involving a mad red headed woman… Still that's something else Jethro and I have in common, the ability to drive red-heads to violence…"

Jethro couldn't help but laugh as he slid his arm around her waist and gently kissed her cheek, "Speaking of said small incident I believe we should get you back to bed…"

Ziva nodded and allowed Jethro to lead her back to the wheelchair. Carefully lowering herself into the seat before taking her daughter back into her arms, gently cradling her sleeping form as her husband pushed her back towards her room followed by their honorary extended family.

* * *

For the next two days the small family remained at the hospital, both mother and daughter under observation to ensure that the stressful birth had left no permanent negative effects. However on the morning of the third day of their stay the doctor informed them that they would both be free to leave that afternoon. Shortly after lunch time Jethro began to gather together the few belongings they had at the hospital, they had been told the doctor was on his way and that as soon as he had completed his final check-up they would be free to leave.

Just as the doctor was signing discharge papers for both Ziva and Naysa Tim knocked quietly on the door and stuck is head through the gap, "Not interrupting anything am I? Abby reminded me you were due to escape this afternoon and I figured you wouldn't have had chance to fetch a car seat…"

With that he stepped fully into the room brandishing the car seat they had brought earlier in the month. Jethro took it gratefully, "Thanks Tim, rescued it as they were taking everything from the house…"

Tim looked a little uncomfortable, "Not exactly…"

Ziva tilted her head slightly as she watched him, "Tim, what can have possibly got you this worried…"

"Well they're not removing anything from the house…"

Jethro paused in his mission to secure Naysa into the car seat and looked up, "I would have thought the Navy would be eager to sell it and get their money back now the operation is over…"

Tim nodded, "That's the thing; they have agreed to sell, to you…"

Ziva laughed, "Tim as much as I have grown to love that house we could never afford it."

Tim rubbed at the back of his neck, "Well turns out the Navy were quite eager to sell, and they wanted to offer you first refusal as it's been your home for so long. The price they were asking for was quite a lot lower than market value; they probably see it as some sort of compensation considering what happened to you Zee…"

"I still do not understand Tim; no-one has spoken to us. I am still not sure we could afford it."

"Um, well the thing is…" Tim rubbed at his neck, "The thing is I brought it for you…"

At once Jethro was shaking his head, "Tim we can't accept that, even if I sell the house I couldn't pay you back…"

Tim shook his head, "No! No no no, it's not a loan; me and Abby have brought the house for you. Call it a wedding present…" He grinned slightly, "Or your share of my latest book advance, after all I am quite sure it was Lisa and L. J. Tibbs's developing relationship that sold the plot to my publishers. So really I owe you…"

"But we'll be so far away from everyone…" Ziva looked torn between the idea of having the house where she had fallen in love and created her family as her permanent home and being away from the friends that still lived in the city.

"Well not everyone… The Navy seized the four houses owned by the group. They were brought with money illegally obtained from the service so they've decided it's their right to take them and sell them to gain some of the money back. So I brought one of them for Abby and I…"

Within seconds Ziva had crossed the room to him and flung her arms around him hugging him tightly, "You Timothy McGee are the best honorary brother I could ask for!" She kissed his cheek and hugged him again before turning to her husband who was smiling and the pair of them. "Are you okay with this Jethro; I know the house you shared with Shannon is important to you…"

He shrugged, "I've managed without it for a year, and it's still there… Besides I think it's time to look to the future don't you. I will always love Shannon and Kelly but I have a beautiful wife and daughter to focus on now. Anyway if you're serious about having a second child then we'll need more than one spare bedroom…"

She beamed and crossed back to her husband, gently kissing him, "I love you."

Tim smiled, "That's not all, I managed to convince them to throw in the cars…" He jangled two sets of keys in front of the couple, "The Charger is outside, I'll let you argue over who gets the BMW." He handed the keys to Ziva and gently kissed her cheek, "I have to get back to the office, if you need anything give me or Abs a call…"

"Thank you Tim." She watched as he left the room and turned back towards Jethro. Smiling, she quietly watched the two most important people in her life.

Jethro looked up at her as he finished strapping Naysa into her car seat. "Ready to go home love?"

She nodded her head and watched as Jethro picked up the holdall, containing the few bits and pieces friends had brought to the hospital, and hooked the long strap over his shoulder, before lifting the car seat from the bed. Sliding her arm around his waist she crossed the room with him and left the hospital to begin her life as a wife and mother. Mrs Ziva Gibbs.


End file.
